Broken Shield
by BrokenRepublic
Summary: After sacrificing himself to save Sora, Axel passes into a strange realm where an old man in a bowler hat offers him a second chance at life.
1. Chapter 1

**Broken Shield  
**

Summary: After sacrificing himself to save Sora, Axel passes into a strange realm where an old man in a bowler hat offers him a second chance at life.

Just some notes before you start reading: I'm treating this story as if Birth by Sleep and 358/2 Days don't exist. I'm going based off the KH1, CoM, and KH2 timelines only. I try to keep personalities as canon as possible, so no OOC to be found here hopefully.

* * *

**Prologue:**

What does it mean to die? Is death defined by the decomposition of the body combined with the definite loss of consciousness? Does one facing death forever lose the ability to live and breathe again? Or does the newly liberated heart continue its journey onto a new road?

Such are the questions they ponder and ask, but I shall write here the truth of it all for any who wish to know it.

When the heart is freed from the shell, it returns to Kingdom Hearts—the heart of all worlds—in order to rejoin the greater flow of life. Kingdom Hearts in actuality is the source of all life, whether it hails from the light or the darkness. Individual hearts searching for life break free of the core and join with shells to form a new body, and thus form a new being. These new beings are then born in one of the many worlds where the individual is free to live until their lifespan reaches its end. This end is what they define as "death", but death in itself is just another extension of life, for the end of the shell means the release of the heart back into the core where its essence melds into the whole. From here, new hearts break free to create new bodies and new beings whereby the process repeats and continues.

Such is the fate of all those hailing from both light and darkness. But what should happen when a Nobody dies? It has no heart and does not truly exist. Do Nobodies who die return to Kingdom Hearts, or do they simply vanish?

More intriguing still is the thought of a Nobody that has regained a portion of its heart prior to death. What becomes of such a being that borders existence and nonexistence? How shall the Gatekeeper judge its death and what will the repercussions be?

_- Gaspar's Report #3_

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Sora slashed his Keyblade through what seemed like the thousandth Dusk, but he didn't dare stop to rest. An endless sea of silver Nobodies horded around him and showed little sign of allowing the weary warrior a period of respite. With gritted teeth, he tightened his grip around the Keyblade's hilt and continued the attack. No matter what, Sora had to get to the other side—he had to rescue Kairi and stop Xemnas.

"I think I liked it better when they were on my side."

Swinging his chakrams through a group of Dusks, Axel jumped next to Sora. He was more worn out than the Keyblade Master, exhaling rough gasps of breath as his fatigued frame hunched over where it once stood tall and proud. The two were back-to-back now, batting away the dozen Nobodies that managed to get too close.

"Feeling a little…_regret?_" Sora said with smirk.

"Nah… I can handle these punks. Watch this!"

Without a second's hesitation, Axel jumped back into the fray and summoned a mighty storm of ravaging flames. Fire exploded from his body, leveling the field and leaving no Dusk alive. The blast was so intense, Sora had to shield his eyes. Once he regained his vision, he took a look around the emptied portal with awe.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, impressed by the feat. He turned around to congratulate Axel on his performance, but the Nobody was lying flat on his back, darkness swirling out of his shell. Sora ran to his side.

"You're…fading away…"

"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. You know what I mean?" Axel gave a small chuckle. "Not that Nobodies actually _have _beings…right? Anyway, I digress. Go, find Kairi. Oh, almost forgot… Sorry for what I did to her."

"When we find her, you can tell her that yourself," Sora replied, not wanting to believe Axel was dying. Even though he was a Nobody and a member of Organization XIII, and even though he kidnapped Kairi, Sora still couldn't bear to see Axel die. The main question Sora wondered, however, was why he felt so sad to watch Axel fade away. Why did it feel like he lost one of his dearest friends?

"Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one." He let out another weak chuckle.

"Axel, what were you trying to do?"

"I wanted to see Roxas. He…was the only one I liked… He made me feel…like I had a heart. It's kind of…funny…" Axel paused and looked over at Sora. "You make me feel...the same... Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Now go." Lifting up a weak, shaking hand, Axel used his remaining strength to summon a dark portal.

With his final act done, Axel faded into the darkness.

* * *

"What's this, I wonder? How perplexing that this should find its way here. The Gatekeeper will not be pleased."

"Ohhhh…" Axel opened his eyes. Everything was blurry at first and his spinning head did little to aid in focusing his vision. "Where am I…?" He slowly lifted himself upright and blinked to clear away the fog.

"You are in a place far from the reach of mortals."

"Huh?" Confused, Axel looked up into the wrinkled face of an old man. His eyes were hidden behind the brim of a large, brown bowler derby with his only other distinguishable feature being the pure white mustache spread out under his small nose. "Who are you?"

"No one you need to fear," replied the man. He lifted up his walking cane and tapped it against Axel's arm. "I see those muscles tightening for attack and I can assure you it isn't necessary."

"Oh really?" said Axel both amused and unconvinced. "You think I wouldn't attack an old man? I don't underestimate anyone, Pops, even a hunched-over geezer with a walking stick."

The old man let out a small laugh. "A primed warrior in your time, I see. Yes, your caution proved invaluable then, but it is virtually useless here."

"And why is that?"

"There is no threat to you here but your own belligerence. Calm yourself for you have been liberated of all the struggles that plagued you in the past."

Axel's face contorted with annoyance as he snapped, "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

The old man leaned himself closer into Axel's face. "You, my friend, are dead."

"What?" Axel's eyes shot wide open with the realization. All his memories came flooding back—everything from his time working for the Organization to hanging out with Roxas and his last-ditch effort to save Sora from the Dusks.

"Ah, now you understand." The old man leaned back again.

"But I'm a Nobody. After fading away, I shouldn't be conscious."

"Hmm, yes. This is rather perplexing indeed," the old man replied. "In all honesty, I am quite uncertain to as how you managed to both retain your physical form and your consciousness. This occurrence is rare—even for one possessing a heart."

"Have any other Nobodies passed through here?" Axel asked, getting to his feet.

The old man shook his head. "You're the first I've seen. Since Nobodies are in the realm of nonexistence, the possibility of one arriving here is quite improbable."

"Where is 'here', anyway?" Craning his neck to look around, Axel noticed for the first time that an endless field of black surrounded the entire area. He and the old man stood on a small plot of land suspended in the midst of the endless space with the only light coming from a collection of lampposts that were scattered along the plot.

"This is the End of Time," came the reply. "This is the place where past, present, and future are nonexistent."

"That's illogical."

"It is what it is."

"It's illogical," Axel repeated with a shake of his head. "How can time not exist here? We're still moving and talking, right? Those actions require time in order to occur. I said the word 'illogical' in the past, I'm saying this very sentence in the present, and I'll likely say something else in the future. Time still exists."

"That is correct. However, the time required to act is irrelevant to the whole entity defined as the 'time stream'. The stream of time has ended here rendering all your actions meaningless. Once you leave here, it will be as though we never met or had this conversation. Your actions will not be recorded as part of the whole, you follow?"

"So in other words…" Axel began, "you're saying that although we're both here right now holding this conversation, because it's taking place in this realm, it's inconsequential since this conversation technically doesn't exist? And it doesn't exist because it won't be recorded within time's flow?"

"Precisely."

Axel hummed and folded his arms. "So what's the point of even being here?"

"This is the place where beings whose cycles have ended come to return to the Source."

"You mean this is a sort of afterlife?"

The old man rubbed his hand along his bowler hat. "In a sense. The ones who come here are inspected by me and then sent to the Gatekeeper for the Final Judgment."

"So you're an inspector? How do I pass your inspection?"

"My function is to ensure someone's lifecycle is truly at its end," the old man explained. "You know when folks claim they've seen their life flash before their eyes or they've had a near-death experience?"

"That's you inspecting them and sending them back?"

"Yes. If there is still more life force within a being who enters my realm, I return that being to its body."

"If that's the case, shouldn't there be a boatload of people here? I'm sure I'm not the only guy who got bumped off today."

"Indeed. But as I have been explaining to you, this place does not exist within the time stream; it is the End of Time. As such, I can examine multiple beings simultaneously without time ever recording their existence. In simpler terms, you can regard this reality of yours as one universe and the reality of another being facing my inspection as a second universe. In this sense, you and the other being occupy the same space but not in the same reality, and are therefore in parallel universes."

"I see. Heh. Who would've thought it?" Axel uttered. He cast his eyes down, furrowing his brows in deep thought. Several seconds went by when a sudden idea sprang into his mind. "Hey, Pops. Can you send me back? You said it yourself—I'm a Nobody and I don't really belong here."

Behind his bowler derby, the old man's face contorted in curiosity. "A Nobody that wants to return to the Realm of Light? Why would you desire such an outcome?"

"Because…" Axel looked to the side and let out a resigned breath. "I have a friend back there and I want to see him again."

"Ho, ho! A friend?" The old man thumped his cane against the ground in amusement. "How does a Nobody befriend another being, I wonder? Curious—most curious!"

Clutching his fist in irritation, Axel snapped back at the old man. "Hey, I'm not here to entertain you with my 'curious' oddities! Can you send me back or can't you?"

"My apologies," said the old man. "I did not mean to offend you. Although, I am also sorry to say that I cannot return you."

"What, why?"

"Because you are a Nobody, it is within your very definition that you do not exist. You do not exist and therefore have no body to return to or life energy to monitor. You never had life energy, for if you did, you would have, in your Nobody state, existed. It is this same reason in which I find your presence here most extraordinary."

"But I _am_ here, so that has to mean I need inspection, right?" Axel pressed. The possibility of regaining his life was slim, but it did exist. He kept the heat on, putting his wit to optimal use. If it meant seeing Sora and Roxas again, he would find a loophole and exploit it no matter what. "If I need to be inspected, that means I have the option of returning, otherwise I would've been sent to see your Gatekeeper from the start!"

The old man rubbed his bowler hat. "Erm… I suppose…"

"You said it yourself—there's a reason why I'm here, and it's for you to send me back!"

"Now, now. Let's not—"

"Gaspar, what is the problem here?"

"Huh?" Both Axel and the old man turned their gazes to the newcomer—a tall, muscular man clad in azure and gold armor. Axel recognized the gold insignia along his chest as a crown matching the pendant Sora always wore.

"Ah, Gatekeeper. You have come to offer us resolution, I hope," said Gaspar, the old man.

The Gatekeeper's armor clanked as he neared. "A Nobody…?" Coming to a stop, the Gatekeeper turned his sights on Axel and inspected the Nobody from behind his helmet's visor. "You…you have…"

"What do you sense?" asked Gaspar.

Keeping his cool, Axel waited for the Gatekeeper's reply. No matter what the verdict, he would continue to push for a resurrection. "A second chance with my best friend is too much to pass up," he thought to himself. "I'll do it right this time, and with Sora taking care of Xemnas, I'll have less to worry about it."

Looking back at Gaspar, the Gatekeeper raised his arm and pointed straight at Axel's chest. "This man…he has a heart."

"What?" Both Axel and Gaspar jumped, with Gaspar's bowler nearly slipping clear off his head.

"I sense no such thing!" contended Gaspar.

"It is not whole, but there is indeed a heart present within this man's shell." The Gatekeeper turned to Axel again, his arm still outstretched. "There is a small fragment of light inside this shell. With this knowledge in hand, it is decided that he must undergo judgment."

"But if it's a fragment," Gaspar began, rubbing his bowler back into place, "that means the other pieces are missing." He craned his head to look at Axel, who had raised his own hand to his chest and cupped it over his heart in astonishment. "If that's the case, this man cannot be inspected or judged until his heart is whole. If we send but a fragment back to the Source, the other pieces will be lost and the cycle will endure an imbalance."

Returning his hand to his side, the Gatekeeper considered Gaspar's reasoning before offering a reply. "What you say is true. The probability of forging a similar fragment is too little. We must use this fragment to attract and connect to the others."

Axel's ears perked at this. He continued to listen, waiting for the right moment to interject.

"What do you propose?" Gaspar asked.

Taking another look at Axel, the Gatekeeper raised his arm again, this time grabbing the Nobody's head.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Axel tried to pry the giant gauntlet off his head to no avail.

"I see…" uttered the Gatekeeper. "So this is your life. Axel… You are one from the darkness who stands in the light." With this, he let go of Axel's head and carefully lifted his gauntlet away so as not to yank any of his red hair in the process.

"What the heck was that all about?" Axel demanded.

"In order to judge you, it was necessary for me to understand the life you have lived prior to your arrival to this realm."

"Is that right? So what have you judged? Can I go back?"

"Back? To what or whom would you return to, I wonder? To Sora in order to aid him in his quest, or perhaps to liberate Roxas? Or will you seek asylum until your pursuers have all been vanquished? Tell me, what life do you desire?" The Gatekeeper leaned in closer to Axel, towering over the Nobody with his tremendous, overpowering presence. But Axel stood his ground and looked straight up at the Gatekeeper's visor.

"I want a second chance," Axel replied in a tone both firm and resolute. "What Sora said…before the end—he was right." He let out a small chuckle. "I felt regret, but not because I switched sides. I regret not having done more to help my best friend." Pausing, Axel looked up to the vast, black sky encompassing the End of Time. "It's funny. I didn't realize the truth until it was too late."

"What truth?"

Axel tilted his head at the Gatekeeper and smiled a small, self-reflective smile. "If I had left with him that day, things would've been different. The Organization wound up hunting us both anyway, so from hindsight, it would've made more sense for me to leave too. At least then, I could've helped him understand his ultimate truth and he wouldn't have felt so antagonized." He paused again. "And maybe…we could've accepted the truth together—the truth…that Roxas is Sora."

"I see." The Gatekeeper walked passed Axel to the edge of where the ground met the endless sea of black. "Then your judgment is decided." He turned around, facing both Axel and Gaspar as he delivered his verdict. "You, Axel, are to be returned to the Realm of Light in order to restore your heart. Once you have done this, you will be returned here for your Final Judgment. Gaspar will act as your guide through the process. Is that understood?"

"Does this make me immortal?" The thought occurred to him that if he couldn't be judged until he had a real heart, then that meant he would never die.

"No. If you are killed, you will be returned here and whatever fragments of your heart exist within you will be returned to the Source."

"But I thought you couldn't return me to this _Source_ of yours while my heart's incomplete?"

"At the same time, we cannot afford to allow you anymore extensions on your life than this one last chance. Doing so will prove more detrimental to the balance of the flow than your missing fragments."

"I see. Fine then." Axel stuffed his hands into his pockets and let out a sigh. "Would've been cool to be immortal, but oh well. I don't think it'll be a major issue."

"With your cautious attitude? You'll be just fine. Don't you worry," Gaspar added. He turned to the Gatekeeper and nodded. "I'll handle things here. You can return to your post now."

"Yes, I will. Farewell, Axel. Until we meet again." With those final words, the Gatekeeper vanished.

"Nice trick," Axel mused. "So, Pops—when are you going to send me back?"

"Axel, come closer," Gaspar beckoned.

Raising an eyebrow, Axel roamed towards Gaspar until he was face-to-face with the old man. "I don't like that tone, Pops. What's up?"

"I can tell by your enthusiasm that you are prepared to be returned to the same space that you initially occupied…"

"Well, yeah. Isn't that how it works? I flunked your inspection so you send me back." There was a pregnant pause and Axel's eyes narrowed. "Where are you sending me?"

"In much the same way that there exist parallel entities of this realm, so too do parallel entities exist of the Realm of Light."

"Meaning…?"

"Axel, you can never return to your reality," Gaspar stated. "I will be sending you to a new reality—that is, a new universe where the history you have come to know and understand will vary from the new one you will be placed into."

Those were not the words Axel wanted to hear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Axel's eyes went wide after learning that he would not return back to his universe of origin. "Wait a minute—the only reason I want to live is to be with my best friend, yet you're telling me that the universe you're sending me to might not have him or our friendship in it?"

Having a heart—no matter how small a fragment—made it far more difficult for Axel to contain his emotions. At first, he used to pretend at being angry or upset, but now everything he felt was genuine. He was genuinely angry and genuinely afraid that he would never see Roxas or Sora again, and he could do little to calm himself in the midst of such an emotional flow.

"Please, Axel. Allow me to finish speaking," said Gaspar. "There do exist such universes, but the one I intend to send you to will hopefully allow you to right all the wrongs you have listed for the Gatekeeper."

"Then my best friend…?"

"Most of the people you know will be within this universe, however, the history will be different. Most prominently, your existence will be altered, as you no longer serve Organization XIII. Likewise, the events that led to Sora's journey have not yet taken place, so you can therefore influence their outcome," Gaspar explained. "Do you see now? Different actions equate different outcomes. By removing you from your initial position as a ranking member of Organization XIII and placing you close to Sora prior to his acquisition of the Keyblade, we've already created an entirely different reality."

"I get it," Axel hummed as he crossed his arms. "Is my switching sides the only difference between the two?"

Gaspar rubbed his bowler hat and shifted more weight onto his cane. "No. You will experience other deviations from your reality of origin. What these deviations are, however, I cannot say in specific. Be prepared for anything and keep ever vigil. There is a high probability you will face foes far greater than you have in the past."

"Can't have a barbeque without burning up some prime rib," Axel replied with a confident smirk.

"I'm hinting more towards Behemoth steaks on steroids."

"No problem. The meatier ones need a higher flame is all, and I'll have them up in flames in no time!" Axel snapped his fingers with a wicked grin and set his entire hand aflame for effect.

"See that you do." Gaspar let out a small chuckle and tapped his cane. "With such high spirits, I believe you'll do just fine."

Waving his hand through the air, Axel extinguished the flames. "So I'll have full retention of my memories from my previous life?"

"That is correct. In this way, you will be able to fulfill your desire of acknowledging the truth."

"Right, right." Nodding, Axel pocketed his hands. "Now when do I leave?"

"Have you any other questions?"

Axel tapped his index finger up against his forehead and grinned. "Help Sora, show Roxas the truth, get a heart—I've got it all memorized. Anything else I should know?"

After taking a moment to ponder and rub his bowler hat, Gaspar added, "Yes, one thing: Don't tell anyone about your true origin or what you've experienced here. Should you fail to keep silent on these matters, you will create a time paradox and render the entire universe null and void."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Who'd believe this place existed, anyhow?" He cocked his head and sighed. "Besides, there's not much to say when it comes to my old life. Didn't have any meaning, you know? Not that Nobodies could live a meaningful life."

"Whatever meaning your life will hold in this universe is for you to shape," Gaspar asserted. "Since you understand these concepts, I can now return you to the Realm of Light."

"Finally! So how do I—"

Before Axel could finish his sentence, he had already vanished.

* * *

One set cause equates one set effect. By altering the cause, you in turn alter the effect. Therefore, the many choices facing one individual throughout his or her lifespan result in a chain reaction of outcomes that in turn yield new choices. The process is ongoing and helps shape the reality in which this person lives.

A choice made is forever set in stone. It cannot be undone and the consequences are unavoidable. Once a choice has been set into motion, it acts as the cause to an effect. They often wonder to themselves in the terms of what could have been. What if a different choice had been made and a different outcome achieved? This is the question that plagues their minds, for they know as mortals they have but only one chance to make one choice and to live with the consequences.

As such, there exists an infinite amount of universes pertaining to these choices. If one man were to select Choice A in Universe 1, he would ponder the outcome of Choice B. That same man in Universe 2, however, would select Choice B and ponder the outcome of Choice A. Such is the nature of the mortals. It is futile for them to deliberate and worry over choices long passed for they will never receive a second chance to select a different outcome.

Yet if one man did obtain the chance to select a different choice and thus usher in a new set of consequences, would he truly deviate from his previous thoughts? Or is his selection an extension of his identity—something that cannot be altered because he hails from Universe 1 and will therefore be destined to always select the same Choice A regardless of his second chance?

_- Gaspar's Report #4_

* * *

As he slipped deeper and deeper into the blanket of darkness, he wondered to himself if everything had been a dream. The old man with his bowler hat and cane, the giant in azure armor, and the floating plot of land surrounded by infinite black—did he hallucinate the whole event? Axel remembered fighting the Dusks and remembered giving his life to destroy them all. But he had no knowledge of what happened to a Nobody past that point. Whether or not a terminated Nobody retained its consciousness and hallucinated for all eternity, he could not say.

But regardless, he felt no pain or distraught. Tranquility pooled over him, washing away any worries or doubts he felt. The one sensation he could observe, however, was that of falling. His body plunged down into the darkness as though falling through an infinite sky. Axel wondered if he would ever touch down on ground again, but the thought of perpetual freefall didn't bother him in the least. If this was the fate of a deceased Nobody, he held no objections.

No sooner did he resolve to accept his fate when a circular surface composed of richly colored stained glass came into view. The red and white symbols drawn into the edge of the surface resembled his chakrams while the larger symbol etched into the center took the shape of a golden crown set within a red and white shield. His body sped closer towards the stained glass and Axel braced himself for an impact. But just as he approached the ground, his body decreased in velocity and he touched down with ease.

"Where am I?" he wondered, taking a look around. The large circular surface reminded him of the End of Time in that it was a singular piece of ground surrounded by infinite black. "Great, and this time, I don't have grandpa around to interrogate and philosophize with."

"So much to do, so little time…"

The sudden voice boomed from every direction, and Axel shot his head around to locate its owner. "Who said that?"

"Take your time and don't worry. The Prince still slumbers."

Edging forward with caution, Axel stepped closer towards the center until he stood atop the golden crown. He took another look around, this time analyzing the inset patterns along the ground.

"Great power sleeps within you, but it is mired by selfish desire."

A long shadow crept out from under Axel's feet, stretching in length until it tripled the size of his frame. He turned around and watched as it sprang up from the surface and acquired a menacing, three-dimensional presence.

"Cast aside your doubts."

Axel jumped back to avoid the pounding fist of the now mutated shadow and summoned his chakrams. Retracting its enormous fist, the colossal shadow drew its clawed hands together until it conjured a giant ball of fire and launched it at Axel. The fireball sped towards its target, who managed to dodge it and counter attack with his chakrams. Axel leapt high into the air and drilled his weapons into the shadow's torso. But the attack had little effect and Axel found himself smacked back to the ground by a powerful slap of the shadow's massive hand.

The chakrams clanged against the ground and slid along the stained glass. With a grunt, Axel pulled himself to his feet and clutched his abdomen. Sporting a devious grin, he took a deep breath and set the whole field aflame. He watched as the hungry flames danced along the shadow's feet and ravaged its legs. But the shadow didn't so much as offer a grunt of pain before glancing down with its gargoyle-like face and blowing out the fire with such a tremendous breath, that it sent Axel sliding towards the edge of the mural. With lightning reflexes, Axel snapped out his arms and grabbed his chakrams as he passed them before going clear off the edge and into the darkness below.

The ground quaked as the shadow progressed towards the spot it last saw Axel. After a long period maneuvering its massive frame to the edge, the shadow brought its claws back together and conjured another ball of fire with the intent of launching it into the darkness to ensure his target's destruction. As the flames conformed into the set spherical pattern, the shadow held it into place until it grew steadily larger than the previous one. The sphere of flames grew so large in size that it threaten to consume the shadow. Its claws struggled to keep it within their control and required precise concentration to launch it. The shadow, now boiling under the intense temperature, raised the gigantic fireball up and over its head preparing to launch it with all its might until two chakrams sliced through the air and carved themselves into its wrists. Having climbed his way back up with the use of his chakrams to claw into the side of the platform and maneuver around his opponent, Axel stood victoriously behind the shadow and watched its unfolding destruction.

Letting out a sickening shriek, the shadow's claws twitched open and closed, losing control over the fireball. The ignited sphere set the beast aflame, toppling it to its demise over the edge of the stained glass ground. Howls of its unbearable pain echoed as it plummeted through the darkness below until silence crept back in to regain its dominance.

Meanwhile, Axel hobbled back to the center and collapsed from exhaustion. Upon hitting the ground, cracks sprung out across the stained glass until they became too numerous to support Axel's weight. The shattering of the mural sent Axel freefalling back into the field of endless darkness.

"Never forget—the strongest enemy of all comes from within."

* * *

"Hey, wake up! Are you crazy?"

Axel shot open his eyes and turned his head to face the one shouting at him. He was a peculiar man Axel never encountered in the past—one armed to the teeth with swords, knives and daggers, and decked out in an indigo soldier's uniform. "Where am I _now?_" Axel said as he lifted himself to his feet.

"You're in the middle of the road!" the man exclaimed. "It's not an ideal place to take a nap, let me tell you. You're lucky I'm a professional defense driver."

"_Professional defense driver?_ What, did you go to school for that or something? Got a PhD in Defense Driving?" Axel jibed.

"I wish. There's not much time for schooling when there's fighting to be done. But there'll be time for chitchat later. Let's get you off the road and into something warm!" Without waiting for a response, the man grabbed Axel's arm and hauled him to the side of the road onto the nearby muddy area where they stopped under a wilted tree. He then opened the trunk to his car and pulled out a spare uniform. "Here, put this on," he instructed, tossing it over to Axel.

Axel raised a questioning eyebrow as he caught the uniform. "What, you've got something against my black cloak?"

"What black cloak?"

"The one I'm wearing—huh?" Glancing down, Axel realized all his clothes were missing. Without a second's hesitation, he threw on the new apparel. "Indigo for a uniform—really? Wouldn't be my first choice."

"It's more of a personal preference. Besides, beggars can't be choosers, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Axel said, waving off the comment. "What are you supposed to be, anyway—a walking ad for the local blacksmith?"

"Walking ad—oh! You mean these?" the man asked, pointing to his swords. "I'm with the Resistance, you see. I need all the weapons I can carry. With everyone counting on me, I've got to be prepared for just about anything." The man gave a grand smile and held out his hand for Axel to shake. "The name's Zack Fair and I'm the Resistance's very own first class soldier!"

"Zack, eh? I'm Axel. That's A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" he said, neglecting Zack's hand.

"I'll remember that," Zack said with a small laugh, retracting his hand. "So what were you doing sleeping in the middle of the road without any clothes?"

"Good question," Axel hummed as he surveyed the area. All the plants and trees were either dead or dying, with everything shaded in a uniform ashen hue. The grey sky above blocked out the sun and made it difficult to judge the time of day and the turbulent clouds sporadically flashed with lightning, indicating the perpetual storm encasing the world.

Zack raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin with concern. "You mean you don't know how you wound up there?"

"Nope. Probably walked in my sleep. No big deal," Axel shrugged, letting the lie slip passed his lips with ease.

"But you could've been killed!"

"I doubt it." He pointed to a sign on the opposite side of the road. "With that speed limit, even someone without your so-called 'skills' could spot me in time to brake."

Zack hung his head and sighed. "Not in these parts. This is a hotspot for attacks. If anyone's on the road, chances are they're speeding to get away from the Heartless."

"There are Heartless here?" Axel inquired with piqued curiosity.

"Not just here—everywhere. It's hard to find a world that hasn't been invaded by swarms of Heartless. The problem is we can't do much to hold them back anymore. Without the Keyblade, it's only a matter of time before the Heartless gain access to the heart of this world."

"That's right," Axel thought to himself. "Pops mentioned sending me here before Sora received the Keyblade. This means the Boss's Heartless is still at large and Maleficent's in the process of throwing together her little Cauldron Club. If that's the case, I can catch Sora on that island of his. But I can't open a dark portal without my cloak; I'll be torn to bits by the darkness if I go through it. There's got to be another way…"

Axel looked up at Zack. "Hey, which world is this?"

"New Port City," came the reply.

"You have a vessel?"

"Yeah, you need a lift?"

"I need to get to an island…"

"Which one? Besaid, Kilika, Luca, Melee—"

"Destiny Islands."

With a nod, Zack signaled over to his car. "Sure thing. Hop on in and I'll take you to the hangar. But I have to make a stop at HQ first."

"Your HQ's on this world?" Axel asked, shutting the car door.

"One of them, yeah—hey, you'd better strap yourself in," Zack advised as he strapped on a helmet and buckled his own seatbelt. "I go really fast."

Axel smirked. "Try me."

"At least take this helmet…"

"I'm good."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Zack turned the ignition and jammed on the accelerator, shooting the car down the road fast enough to break the sound barrier. Within seconds, he pivoted his foot onto the brake and the vehicle came to a dead halt, sending Axel lurching forward and smashing his head clear into the dashboard. "Hey, you okay?"

Axel let out a pain-filled shout and caressed the swelling bump forming under along his head. "What the heck kind of car is this, a torpedo?" He blinked his eyes numerous times but failed to focus his blurred and darkening vision.

"I told you I drive fast. It's necessary for this place because of the Speed Demon Heartless. They're ten times faster than Road Running Heartless and twenty times more vicious than Piranha Poodles."

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?" Axel grunted.

"I find it's better to learn from actions than from words. I tried telling you once and that didn't work, so until you experienced it for yourself, all I'd accomplish by adding further warning is prolong the argument. Not a good idea to be bickering when there are Heartless around, you know?" Zack got out of the car and went over the passenger's side door where he helped Axel. "Come on, let's go get you patched up. We've got a resident healer, so you'll be better in no time!"

With Zack's help, Axel limped from the car to a broken-down, condemned building. All the windows were boarded up and the chipped paint exterior was defaced with graffiti. Zack led his newfound friend towards the side-entrance where he gave the secret knock. Seconds later, the door opened and the two went inside to where a warm, homey atmosphere welcomed them.

"Welcome back, Zack," said the woman who opened the door. "And who's this?"

"His name's Axel and he didn't listen to my seatbelt warning," Zack replied, steering Axel to a chair. "Mind curing him, Yuna?"

"Of course." Yuna placed her hand over Axel's bump, causing him to flinch. "Now hold still." She closed her eyes, channeling energy into her palm. When she lifted her hand, the bump was gone and Axel vision returned to 20/20.

"I'll bet a trick like that comes in handy in your line of work," Axel remarked.

"Ha, yeah," Zack replied. "I would've been a goner if Yuna wasn't here to give me a hand." He made his way back over towards the door. "Listen, I have the package in the trunk. I'll bring it down to the meeting room and then I promised to give Axel a lift off this world."

"That's fine. Just be sure to tell my uncle, or else he'll wonder where you've run off to," Yuna advised.

With a nod, Zack left the room.

"So how long have you been on this world, Axel?" Yuna asked, turning to face him. But he just stared at her as though trying to figure out some sort of perplexing puzzle. "Are you alright? Do you need more healing?"

"Didn't she used to be a treasure-hunting pixie?" Axel wondered. "I could swear I've seen her somewhere—maybe Hollow Bastion? Hmm…"

"…Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you still injured?" Yuna asked in a sincerely worried tone.

"No. Just thinking."

"Oh, I see." She let out a small laugh. "I sometimes get lost in thought, too. In dark times like these, uncertainty governs us all. The Heartless grow more powerful by the day and we can only do so much to suppress their forces. I fear this world too will soon fall into darkness."

Axel offered a small nod, not interested in pondering over the woes of another. But a thought occurred to him after he ventured to sit in silence. She could provide him with enough information to gauge the differences between this universe and his own.

"So you're part of the Resistance to stop the Heartless? When did this Resistance form?"

"Eight years ago when Heartless swarmed Hollow Bastion. Most of the key Resistance members once called Hollow Bastion their home."

"How many of you are there?"

"We have three major headquarters; one here in New Port City, one in Dalmasca, and one in Traverse Town. As for how many members there are, the number varies by location. A rough estimate would be between 4-6 members each. There are only a handful of people who possess the strength and skill necessary to oppose the Heartless."

"I see." Axel folded his arms and leaned back to process the information. "Heh, you guys are pretty much toast without the Keyblade master."

"That is…the harsh truth, yes," Yuna replied, casting down her worried glance.

"Any luck in tracking him down yet?"

"Unfortunately, there has been no word or sign of the Keyblade or its wielder."

Axel crossed his legs. "I'm sure he'll be popping up soon."

"You sound confident. What have you learned?"

"I'm in the same boat as you, sister. I haven't seen hide or tail of the guy. I'm just…optimistic."

"I see…" Yuna replied, disheartened.

"Say, you ever hear of someone called 'Maleficent'?"

"Why, of course! She's the witch who overran our home with Heartless! She snuck into the castle one night and disposed of our wise leader, a man called Ansem. With him gone, she was free to call forth the powers of darkness."

"Yup, that's her for the most part," Axel nodded. "What's the word on the street; what's she up to?"

"Nothing at the moment. She's mainly concerned with increasing her ranks."

"And any news on Disney Castle? What's the King up to?"

"Funny you should ask," Yuna replied. "King Mickey occupies himself with reinforcing our Traverse Town headquarters. He and the HQ's leader are good friends."

"Huh, that's a new one," Axel muttered. "So the King is actively helping the Resistance?"

Yuna nodded. "His Majesty understands the growing threat of the Heartless. He left his castle to journey across the worlds and assess the situation."

"So he hasn't disappeared yet…" Axel thought to himself. "If I recall, he's supposed to get trapped behind the Door to Darkness, but instead he's playing the role of freedom fighter? Hmm…"

"Axel, if you don't mind my asking…"

"Huh?" Snapping out of his thoughts, Axel looked up at Yuna. "What?"

"How is it…" she began, pausing to find the right words. "Why are you asking these particular questions? I'd expect this from a fellow Resistance member, but not from an average denizen of this world."

"Oh, I see. You're wondering how I know what to ask, is that it?" Yuna nodded. "Just call me a know-it-all in training," Axel smirked as he kicked back further into his chair. "I'm trying to gather up as much information as I can manage."

"Then…are you going to help us fight against the darkness?" Yuna asked, a newfound hope kindling in her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah—something like that," Axel replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. The new optimism radiating from Yuna made him realize the conversation's new turn in direction and he held no interest in committing himself as a resistance fighter. "Say, do you happen to have a change of clothes? Indigo is really not my color." He stood up from his seat and yanked at his uniform.

Now distracted, Yuna abandoned her previous train of thought and hurried up from her own seat. A kind and caring woman, Yuna always did her best to ensure the comfort of her friends. She ventured into the next room, and upon scouring through several drawers, she returned with a handful of new clothing. "I hope these fit," she said while handing them over to Axel. "Try them on and see how you like them."

Holding up the new clothes for inspection, Axel smirked. "Hotrod red; my favorite! How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess," Yuna giggled. "Now go put them on!"

Trying on his new duds in the next room, Axel found them a perfect fit. Less cumbersome than the soldier uniform, they allowed for optimal use of Axel's natural dexterity and agile reflexes. Their casual appearance also offered him camouflage, as he would no longer stick out in a crowd or give off the dangerous aura of a shady man in a black cloak.

"Perfect!" Yuna exclaimed, clapping her hands together with satisfaction. "You look much better in these."

"Aww… no love for my uniform?" Zack said in mock sadness as he entered the room.

"Try putting it through a hundred rinse cycles next time and then we'll talk," Axel jibed.

Zack rubbed the back of his head with a bashful grin. "Well, it _has_ been in that trunk for a while. Never really needed a spare, but you can't be too prepared."

"Whatever you say."

"Did you finish speaking with my uncle?" Yuna asked.

"Yeah," Zack nodded. "He and Rikku are assembling the contents as we speak. I helped them move the engine, so I hope you didn't mind the delay."

"Not at all."

Axel raised his brow. "Engine? What're ya building down there?"

"A special surprise for the Heartless!" Zack boasted with a triumphant grin. "They won't know what hit 'em once we're done!"

"Heh, is that right?"

"Yup! But you'll just have to wait and see. For now, I'll take you where you want to go."

"Fine by me." Axel turned to Yuna and gave her a small wave. "Thanks for the attire. Be seeing you."

"Take care of yourself, Axel," Yuna replied with a smile. "I hope we meet again."

Outside, Zack and Axel stepped back into the car, with Axel not wasting a moment before buckling up and strapping on a helmet.

"See? My method works," Zack said pointedly.

"Let's just get this show on the road."

Within seconds, the car had launched off for its destination and arrived at an airport located on the outskirts of town. "My ship's in here. Go on and take a seat while I hide the car."

Strolling into the hangar, Axel gazed up at the Gummi Ship. Judging by the size of the thrusters, he could tell it flew with enough speed to rival Zack's car. Several lasers and cannons protruded from the bow with a second concealed laser attached to the rear. "Man, this guy really goes all out, doesn't he?" Axel thought. "Are there really that many Heartless around or is he just paranoid? Sheesh…" He then boarded the ramp and took a seat in the cockpit.

Several minutes later, Zack appeared and strapped himself into the pilot's seat. "There's a helmet in the overhead compartment," he said while flipping several switches along the control pad. "You said we're heading for Destiny Islands?"

"That's the place," Axel replied, setting his helmet in place.

After tossing on his own helmet, Zack started the ignition and levitated the ship out of the hangar. "So why an island? Is that your home world?"

"Nah. I figured I'd just head over there to soak in some sun while it's still free of Heartless."

"Yeah, I hear ya," Zack hummed. "But don't worry—we'll kick those Heartless silly! The worlds will be back at peace in no time!"

Axel let out a small laugh. "You're right."

With the flip of a couple more switches and the push of a button, Zack's Gummi Ship exploded out of the atmosphere and disappeared into the sky.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Brace yourself; we're coming out of hyper speed!" Zack shouted over the roaring thrusters. Forcing all his weight onto a large lever, he locked it into place with an audible click and cut the energy feeding into the hyperdrive gummi. The ship stopped in mid-space, hovering at a low propulsion rate. "Here we are in the Outer Rim," he announced.

The shock of the sudden halt knocked all the wind out of Axel. He sat stunned and unmoving for a brief period before shaking free of his hazy trance. Everything within his peripheral vision spun around in wild circles until the fluids in his ears leveled out and regained their balance. "What the heck kind of ship is this?" he sputtered. "It's more like a deathtrap than a vessel!"

"I have a prototype hyperdrive gummi installed in my engine," Zack explained. "It's the only way to blast through the Heartless blockade held up around the Outer Rim without having to engage in combat."

"Outer Rim? What the heck is that?"

"Where we are now. Destiny Islands is a world located here in the Outer Rim, see?" Zack tapped the touchscreen monitor located on the dashboard and selected the live map. "This is where we are," he said pointing to their current location in space. "You'll notice there aren't many worlds here in comparison to this large cluster here." He dragged his finger past the small dot labeled as "DI" and pointed to a massive collection of tiny dots representing the various worlds cluttered together. "These worlds are known as the 'Core Worlds' and contain places like New Port City, Traverse Town, Halloween Town, and Agrabah."

"I see…" Axel hummed as he scanned over the GPS. "You said the Heartless set up a blockade? Why?"

Zack rubbed the back of his head. "That's the one thing we can't figure out. There's nothing of importance out here that we've detected; just a bunch of islands and deserts without too many people. The only reason I ever come out here is to pick up supplies by the ways of herbs, minerals, metals, and fabrics—nothing too fancy, but vital to our cause all the same."

"Think they're doing this to cut your supply routes?"

"Doubtful. It's too much of an indirect approach, and the Heartless are more of a head-on bunch. If you ask me, they're more _brainless_ than _heartless_." He paused to chuckle at his own corny joke.

"Then they must be looking for Sora," Axel thought to himself. "But how did they get wind of his location? …I didn't think things would change this much. Outer Rim and a Heartless blockade? I wonder how this will play out? Heh, might be entertaining."

"Listen, I'm going to manually fly to the world from here, so don't unbuckle just yet," Zack announced as he took the joystick into his grasp. He jerked it forward and sent the ship flying deeper into the Outer Rim. "We'll arrive at Destiny Islands in a few minutes."

The Gummi Ship whizzed through the numerous multicolored rings and blocks scattered along the pathway until the GPS chimed. "Looks like we're here…but—uh-oh! Brace yourself for impact!" Grabbing the joystick tightly in one hand and resting his free hand on a nearby control pad, Zack jerked the ship around the cluster of incoming asteroids while shooting down whichever ones he could with the ship's lasers.

"What the heck's going on? Why did you fly us into an asteroid field?" Axel shouted.

"I don't understand… I punched in the correct coordinates. Destiny Islands should be right here!"

"Does _that_ look like an island to you?"

More asteroids hurtled towards the ship, some colliding along the fuselage. One managed to slip through Zack's evasive maneuvers and smashed straight into the cockpit, rocking the ship and tossing it off its course. "Good thing I reinforced the windshield," he muttered as he corrected the ship's trajectory.

When they finally cleared through the field, the two travelers thought it safe to breathe easy. But just as they turned their attention to the GPS to troubleshoot what they deemed a navigational error, a siren went off accompanied by a flash of red light.

"What's going on _now?_" Axel demanded, his anger and frustration reaching their peak.

"It's the alert signal," said Zack as he flipped several switches and lowered a visor over his eyes. "Enemy ships are on radar! Prepare for confrontation!" The targeting viewer built into the visor allowed Zack to see 360-degrees around his ship. He saw a squad of Heartless patrol ships homing in from the rear, firing their cannons. The ship's defenses held strong with the shields deflecting everything. When he saw his chance, Zack countered with his heavy arsenal and blew them away with little effort until the reinforcements arrived. "What the heck is going on? There's a whole fleet on our tails!"

"A fleet?" Axel exclaimed. "I thought you said this ship could outrun the blockade! How'd they find us?"

"We'll worry about that later. Right now I need your help. Grab the control pad next to your seat to activate the auxiliary cannons. We'll need everything this baby's got to make it out of here in one piece!"

"Now you're talking." A vicious smirk stretched across Axel's lips as he took the control pad into his hands and mashed its buttons without mercy. "Don't mind me if I get a little trigger happy!"

With their combined firepower, the ship's weapons decimated the Heartless fleet while receiving little damage in turn. When he deemed the situation stable enough, Zack set his gun turrets to auto fire and turned to Axel. "Hold them off while I punch in some new coordinates. I'm getting us out of here."

"Hurry up—I'm running out of ammo and the radar's picking up the cavalry!"

Lifting the visor off his head, Zack focused his attention to the GPS monitor. He tapped the touchpad, exiting the live feed menu and going into his address book. The luxury of time not on his side, he clicked the first entry that caught his eyes and commenced the hyperdrive's countdown. "Just a little more, Axel," he said while disengaging the final security locks.

"There's a whole armada of enemy cruisers closing in and these puny auxiliary guns aren't going to cut it!"

"Just thirty seconds!"

"Make it fifteen!"

"Can't!"

"Then you'd better hold onto something!"

A swarm of Heartless vessels of all shapes and sizes careened into view, screeching across the field unloading their unforgiving artillery without restraint. Alert sirens howled in the cockpit indicating the failing strength of the ship's shields, and not too long after, warning signals sounded off advising for the immediate recharge of all active weaponry. The turbulence racking Zack's Gummi Ship caused it to spin wildly out of control. All the while, the hyperdrive's countdown continued, and with the current state of the ship, it would explode if Zack didn't act fast.

Grabbing the joystick tightly with both hands, he tried to regain control. But the Heartless's relentless onslaught caused too much critical damage. More alert beacons activated, signifying the dangerous conditions within the cockpit. The main generator fueling energy into the pilot's seat malfunctioned, rendering all of Zack's attempts to stabilize the ship futile.

"Axel!" Zack shouted. "Pull the lever to your right!"

Braving the nauseating conditions, Axel forced open his watering eyes and shot his sights towards the lever. It took all the strength he could muster to overcome the centripetal force plastering his arm against the seat, but he willed his shaking limb to fling along the lever. Entwining his fingers along the grip, he pushed down hard enough to bust a vein.

"I didn't come all this way…_just to die here!_" The lever creaked into position, fighting Axel all the way until it settled into the final groove. Underneath the floor panels, gears ground along their rotation until a low humming reverberated throughout the cockpit. Axel's fingers continued to clasp the grip even when he felt his consciousness slipping away with each rapid revolution of the ship; though the revolutions themselves weakened with each toss, gradually leveling out with less intensity and striving for balance.

The countdown, in the meantime, was nearing zero, with five seconds ticking off to _four, three, two, one…!_

_KA-BOooOoOOoooM!_

First came the explosion of multiple lights; their intensity flashed into the cockpit painting it pure white for little more than a millisecond before everything went dark. Next followed the thunderous blast suffusing the whole ship with its quaking intensity. Then silence, as if a large vacuum tore open and sucked all the sound out of space.

Darkness reigned supreme, signaling the end. No more Heartless; no more light; no more stars; no more asteroids; no more Gummi Ship. Nothing remained except the darkness.

* * *

On the other side of the universe, the space surrounding Traverse Town rested in relative tranquility. Though the occasional Heartless assault cruisers zoomed by on patrol, Traverse Town lacked the hectic chaos that consumed the Outer Rim.

But the peace didn't last long. An explosion echoed out, shattering the veil of stillness blanketing the space around the world. All in one piece, the Gummi Ship popped out of its hyperspace vortex and hovered near the atmosphere of Traverse Town. In one instant jolt Axel's senses returned, and it wasn't until sound permeated back into the cockpit that he realized he and Zack were screaming. Light soon broke through his blacked-out vision, pouring over his wide eyes until the bluish sea of space—at first an image blurred and unrecognizable—came into clean focus and he could distinguish the bright scattering of stars along the distance.

"Ha, ha! That was a close one, huh?" Zack boomed with wild laughter, tossing off his helmet and wiping the sweat from his forehead. "What a rush!"

"Some defense driver _you_ turned out to be," Axel grunted, peeling himself from his leather chair. His exposed, sweat-soaked arms were practically glued down on the leather-bound armrests and came up with a soft smacking sound. "We had the whole blockade after us!"

"Hey, that's not my fault!" Zack contended. "There's something suspicious about our encounter. To have the whole armada after us like that means we accidentally stumbled onto something."

"Yeah, the Keyblade master's former home," Axel thought, yanking off his helmet and running a hand through his hair to straighten it. He then held out his arms, working his achy muscles and flexing his sore fingers.

Meanwhile, Zack was back fiddling around with the GPS touchscreen. "Sorry, Axel, but I'm going to have to land here in Traverse Town and report this to the others," he said while pressing several keys on the screen. "I can take you anywhere you want afterwards or maybe you can find someone else to hitch a ride with."

"Don't let me stop you," Axel shrugged, hiding his satisfaction behind a veil of indifference. Traverse Town was the next place on his hit list, after all. "Besides," he added with a sly grin, "I'll find a way to occupy my time one way or another."

Zack nodded. "But…I don't think you'll be able to get to your destination. I checked and rechecked the coordinates, and it turns out those asteroids were the remnants of Destiny Islands."

"I figured as much."

"You're not upset?"

"Traumatized."

"Really?"

"Oh sure. I just hide my feelings really well."

Nobodies didn't have any feelings to hide; all they could do was pretend to feel. Yet as he sat there gazing out at the world below teeming with life oblivious to the disaster facing the Outer Rim, Axel could feel the slightest bit of uneasiness tightening inside his rib cage. Something was troubling him, but not the idea of a world falling into darkness. He wanted to shrug it off as an overreaction, but something about the ferocity of the Heartless invasion disturbed him. Gaspar's warning resurfaced in his thoughts, and deep in the back of his mind, Axel wondered if Sora really was in Traverse Town.

"I know it's a hard thing to come to grips with. When I think of all those people losing their hearts, I…grr!" Zack clenched his fist and grit his teeth. "But we have to push through it all and keep moving forward. The fight's not over yet!"

"Why not put that go-get-'em attitude to use and get us docked?"

"Oh, right." Tapping the GPS touchpad, Zack initiated the landing procedure. "Atmosphere reentry process is a go!" With its thrusters gaining power, the Gummi Ship rumbled out of its idle hover and flew towards Traverse Town.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Past the heavy, reinforced doors leading into Traverse Town's First District, a single light bulb surrounding the Accessory Shop's neon sign flickered on and off until it gave out and died. Playing out in chorographical harmony with the bulb, one of the many stars painting the nighttime sky above the town simultaneously flickered and disappeared from view. As he walked up the steps towards the shop, Zack paused to glance up at the starscape, noticing the star's disappearance from the corner of his eye. "That's not good," he uttered.

"What's the problem now?" Axel groaned, stopping beside Zack with his hands in his pockets. They had already stopped twice before; once to help three little ducks carry some crates into their storage closet, and again to rescue a moogle from having his pom-pom torn off by an over-excited Dalmatian puppy. Needless to say, Axel wasn't too keen on aiding the locals. He came to town on a mission, not to squander away his time on meaningless, mediocre tasks.

"A star just went out," Zack replied, turning to look at Axel. "You know that every star in the sky is actually a world in the distance, right? When a star goes out, that means—"

"A world's been destroyed. Yeah, yeah; I know the drill." Axel waved his hand dismissively and sighed. "Can we keep moving? The sooner you and your cohorts discuss the blockade, the better."

"You know, if you're that anxious to go, you don't have to come with me," said Zack, now a tad bit irked with Axel's impatience. Sure, he could understand Axel not wanting to lug around heavy boxes of potions and ethers, and it was even okay in his book to not want to chase around a hyperactive puppy that liked to duck and hide in hard-to-reach places; but to not listen to his folklore and myths on the scattered worlds that were passed down to him by the elders of his homeworld? Now _that_ was just rude!

"I'll take to touring this place after I hear what your pals have to say about that horde of Heartless ships."

"You never did tell me why you're so interested in all this. I thought you just wanted to go on vacation?"

Axel shrugged. "What can I say? I'm instinctively curious. It's not everyday you see a Heartless armada of that magnitude and I'd like to know what they're planning."

"Fair enough." Zack continued up the steps. "But I'd like to warn you: Leon doesn't let just _anyone_ sit in on our meetings. Even with a recommendation from me, he's the boss around here and it's his final decision."

"We'll see about that."

* * *

Meanwhile in an underground meeting room just below the Accessory Shop, the leader of the Traverse Town Resistance paced circles around the room. His hands clenched tightly behind his back and his eyes staring emotionless down at the floor, it was as though his body maneuvered itself on autopilot while his mind lay miles away in a world filled with frantic, racing thoughts of darkness and despair, of "what-ifs" and "maybes", and the most dreadful worries of all: of doom and death.

"Squall, you're making me dizzy. Just sit down already!" Yuffie groaned. The endless circular movement not only made her dizzy, but it threatened to snap her last nerve.

"That's _Leon_," he corrected her without lifting his eyes from the ground.

"We can play the name game _after_ you stop pacing holes into the floor," she retorted. "I'm sure the message will come any minute so chill out!"

Leon stopped and glared up at Yuffie. It was a particular type of glare associated only with Leon, one that conveyed a message along the lines of "stop talking if you know what's good for you". It served him well over the years, intimidating many an opponent, chilling even the most flaming hotheads, and silencing all the annoying little kids who begged for a closer look at his Gunblade.

But after so many years of being exposed to it, Leon's closest ring of friends developed immunity to his glares and stares, rendering most of them ineffectual.

"Oh don't give me that! What would Aerith say if she saw you like this? I'm sure she'd have a few choice words to spare."

"Whatever." Not in the mood to argue, Leon took instead to leaning against the adjacent wall, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. At least in this way, he could silence Yuffie's badgering before she really got into the swing of things. The young ninja was better suited for reconnaissance out in the streets, but the urgent state of affairs recalled her from the rooftops of the Second District and trapped her in the confined meeting room. Sure, it had a coffee machine and a refrigerator filled with all sorts of goodies, but she yearned for the open-aired freedom of the outside world. A ninja belonged out in the expansive shadows blanketing the streets and alleyways, not cramped in a small room stories underground.

And so, as the moogle-shaped clock on the wall continued to tick away, it started to wear heavily against the patience of both Resistance members who sought nothing short of a quick resolution to the whole affair. The sooner they received the message, the sooner they'd be back out on the streets flexing their muscles and pouring out their frustrations on any Heartless unfortunate enough to cross their paths.

With such nerve-wracking impatience, it was no wonder both of them jumped at the sound of the doorknob turning and the door creaking open. Leon pushed himself off the wall, psyching himself out to hear the news while Yuffie slid off the table she sat on and tossed her emptied coffee cup into the nearby trash bin. However, when they saw their new arrival, both their spirits sank back into edgy irritation.

"Zack? What the heck are _you_ doing here?" Yuffie asked bewildered.

"Where's Aerith?" Leon said, cutting the chase and not even giving his friend the opportunity to explain himself.

"Well, gee. It's nice to see you guys too," Zack replied, disheartened by the less than enthusiastic greetings.

"I asked you a question." Leon approached Zack and looked him dead in the eye. "Where is she?"

"Hey, now! What's got you so riled up?" Now worried, Zack wondered if something had happened to Aerith.

"We're waiting for a message from the King," Yuffie explained. "Aerith went to retrieve it and she hasn't come back yet."

"Did you go and look for her?"

"I doubt she's in danger," Leon said with a wave of his hand, dismissing the very idea.

"What makes you so sure?" Zack pressed, now ready to buck out of there himself to go rescue her from the Heartless.

"She only left ten minutes ago and you know how long the lines are at the post office," Yuffie sighed. "We were having a meeting before Cid came down and mentioned a transmission he received from Chip and Dale."

"The King had strategized a new plan of action and left here to get it under way," said Leon as he folded his arms back across his chest. "However, things have changed since then. Just two days ago, an entire group of worlds vanished off the radar within the span of three minutes. When the King realized what had happened, he went to investigate and changed tactics as a result."

"According to Chip and Dale," Yuffie continued, "he outlined a second plan for us to carry out and sent the instructions via mail."

Zack hummed. "I see. So you're waiting for the new orders, huh? But why didn't he just deliver the news in person?"

"Who knows?" Leon shrugged, again moving to lean against his favorite wall.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the blockade in the Outer Rim?" Zack asked, finally bringing forward his whole reason for visiting the town.

"The blockade?" Yuffie scoffed, raising her eyebrow as if it were the most ridiculous thing she'd heard that night. "They haven't moved in months! Why would the King rush-deliver us a battle plan against a bunch of ships so far out there?"

"Because they're not floating around like harmless space debris anymore."

Leon narrowed his eyes, interest now piqued. "Zack, why are you here?"

"Well…" Rubbing the back of his neck, Zack glanced over towards the door. "Before I get into details, do you mind if a friend sits in on this discussion?"

"What friend?" Leon inquired, eyes still narrowed.

Axel took that as his entrance cue. Pushing open the door, he walked in with a faint, false smile and introduced himself. The true reason for his eagerness to visit the Resistance HQ was to find Sora, but as he glanced around the small room the harsh reality of things bore down heavy in his mind. If not with the Resistance at this point, where was the Keyblade master?

"Axel, huh? Why should he sit in with us?" Leon asked of Zack. "What business does he have here?"

"Well, it's like this…" Zack explained the whole situation, starting with meeting Axel in New Port City to their adventures in the Outer Rim. "So you can see why it may coincide with the King's new rushed decision."

"What do you know about the blockade?" Axel asked, not waiting for the others to digest the information. Though he did so not in a casual manner, but rather intoning it as a flat-out demand—a feature Leon automatically disliked. As head of the Resistance, he was accustomed to making the demands, not giving into them.

"What makes you think you have any right to be here?" said the leader, pushing himself off the wall. "I'm not obligated to allow you into our discussion, regardless of your efforts in escaping the assault."

Axel stood his ground, not possessing the luxury of time to dance around an argument and irritate his opponent with open-ended remarks cloaked in mystery like he would on normal occasions. "You'll tell me what I want to know," he stated, his false smile long gone and forgotten. His eyes trained Leon as he came up closer to Axel, offering up one of his trademark glares. But to a battle-hardened and experienced Nobody like Axel, such a tactic proved useless. He looked Leon dead in the eyes with his own intense gaze, the fire of his fractured heart burning within him and reversing the tide of the battle of wills.

Meanwhile, Zack and Yuffie watched on wondering when or how to broker peace between the two. Neither dared interrupt them now, not wanting to cause a fight by accident, but also because they knew how Leon functioned. Their leader didn't befriend new people in the conventional way of shaking hands and sharing a drink—oh no. His methods were more direct and trying. He could size up a person's character by studying their stance while being subjected to his death gaze.

"…Who are you?" Leon asked, not looking away or giving up his glare, but definitely in a more receptive mood.

"Someone who wants answers."

For several long minutes the two remained stock-still, neither saying a word nor blinking until Leon gave an indifferent wave of his hand. "Fine, you can stay," he said, turning from Axel and heading over to the table where he took a seat.

"Tell me what you know," Axel pressed, following him. With the waters now calm, Zack and Yuffie joined them at the table.

"Not much."

"Start from the top. Give me every detail."

Leon eyed Axel for a moment as if to pass a second judgment on the man from a different angle before replying. "About seven months ago, we started noticing high levels of activity in the Outer Rim. Masses of ships flew in from Hollow Bastion and amassed a fleet along the borderline between the Outer Rim and Core World space. We sent several reconnaissance ships out there that reported no movement. However, any ships that entered within a 15-mile proximity of the blockade were destroyed on sight. It made it difficult for us to collect raw materials from the worlds out there, so our engineers developed a special prototype hyperdrive gummi and outfitted one of our ships to blast through without any confrontation. There hasn't been any trouble with them since then."

"Did the Heartless seem fixed on any one particular world? Did those ships ever engage in an invasion?" Axel asked.

"No. In all the time they've been there prior to this incident, we've never witnessed them make a move. The only mobile ships in the area were the usual scouts you'd find around here."

"How carefully have you been monitoring them?"

"We have a computer inside the Second District's Gizmo Shop that keeps 24-hour surveillance on the area and we check the recordings every six hours."

"Have there been any reports of abductions in the area?"

"The Heartless don't take prisoners. They find you in the streets, on the road, or in the park and claw at you until they've plucked out your heart."

"Forget that for a minute! Do you know of any abductions?" Axel continued to press. "Anything that comes to mind, even if you think it was a localized incident that the Heartless played no part in."

"…No."

"I see…" Axel paused for a moment until one final question came to mind. "Do you know who's leading the blockade? Who's in command?"

"Sources indicate Captain Hook's vessel is spearheading the effort."

"Captain…_Hook?_" Axel wondered if he heard right.

"You don't sound convinced," Zack noted. "Have you had dealings with him before?"

"Not personally," Axel replied. "Though from what I've heard, he's the type to hold himself up scared in his quarters while his Heartless crew mop the decks and man the cannons. How can someone so reluctant to be around the shadows act as the commander of an entire Heartless armada?"

"Listen carefully if you want to live long enough to see the end of this war," Leon said, leaning in closer to Axel. "Don't _ever_ underestimate the Order of Thanatos. Each member is sinister and ruthless. Once they set their sights on you, they won't stop until their Heartless cohorts have ripped you to shreds and devoured your heart."

"I'll commit that to memory," Axel replied, again recalling Gaspar's warning. "So is there anything else you've neglected to mention about the blockade?"

Leon folded his arms in conclusion. "That's all we know." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment of inner reflection.

"Hey, Axel?" Zack ventured to say, shifting in his seat to better face him. "You said you wanted to go to Destiny Islands for a vacation, but it seems to me your trip was a little more personal than that. Did you know someone on that island—someone you hope was taken captive by the blockade rather than turned into a Heartless by the darkness?"

"Heh." Axel smirked and pushed from his chair. "That's an interesting thought," he said in a thoughtful tone, neither confirming nor denying it.

Zack raised his brow in confusion. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I've learned all I need to know," Axel replied. "You guys are going to talk battle strategy, right? I'm not interested." Leon and his group held little interest for him now. His priorities lay with Sora's whereabouts, and since the Resistance held little to no useful information, the duty to find information on the fate of Destiny Islands fell on Axel's shoulders.

"Well, okay… I'll meet up with you later, then," Zack said as he watched Axel make for the door. "…Oh! And, hey: try to stay in the First District. It's the only place in this world where you'll be safe from the Heartless."

"Yeah!" Yuffie chimed in with a proud fist punch in the air. "We work extra hard to keep them out of here, right Leon?"

"That's not to say some don't manage to slip past us…" Leon replied, his eyes now open and looking at Axel. "Watch your back; never lower your guard."

"I'll keep that in mind," Axel said with an indifferent wave of his hand. He used to live in The World That Never Was, a world crawling with hordes of Heartless. What did he care for the low class stragglers of Traverse Town? Leaving the meeting room, he climbed up the two flights of stairs leading to the main shop. The fireplace slid horizontally as Axel passed through, and after five seconds it slid back into its original position, locking into place with a faint click.

The shop itself still housed but one occupant: the main proprietor, Cid Highwind. Dozens of shiny accessories sparkled from behind the glass cases adorning the walls and a box of yet-to-be-displayed goods sat next to Cid's foot, its flaps open and one of the circular accessories missing from its cushioned container. A green counter sectioned the cashier area from the rest of the shop, boxing off Cid and his special selection of jewelry. The cash register sat atop the counter along with Cid's prized piece of mythril he managed to win from the moogles in a poker game three years ago. On the opposite edge of the cased mythril was a large plate covered in a mountain of crumbling chocolate chip cookies. That same plate greeted Axel when he first entered the shop as Cid tried to peddle them off, but they looked too crumbly to withstand even the gentlest touch.

"You finished already?" Cid asked from behind the counter. He stood polishing a silver bracelet, giving it a quick spit before rubbing it to a fine shine with an old cloth. The two had met earlier when Zack brought Axel into the shop and introduced them.

"The rest of their conversation is inconsequential to me," Axel replied.

"Heh, so Leon let you stay after all? I owe the moogles upstairs fifty munny."

"You bet against me, gramps?"

Cid put down the bracelet and flicked his nose. "Let's get one thing straight, kid—The name's _Cid_ and I'm not old enough to be _anyone's_ gramps."

"Yet," Axel smirked.

"Pfheh, at least I'm not senile like you, kid. 'I've got it memorized' ring any bells?" Cid retorted, placing his hands on his hips.

"It rings plenty, but so does Zack's comment about your graying hair."

"Smart aleck."

"Serves you right for placing munny on the wrong side. I'm not an average _kid_, know what I mean?" Axel tapped his index finger against his forehead with a grin. "In this life, you can bet I'll be a winner in everything I set out to do. Got it memorized?"

"Well aren't you the serious one? Heh." Cid shook his head and gave his nose another flick. "Not sure what's got you so fired up, but I'll take your word for it, _Axel_."

"Much obliged, _Cid_."

"So you still in the market for a ship?" Cid asked, taking the bracelet from off the counter and slipping it into the display case behind him. "Had to stick the boys to work on Zack's since he banged it up pretty good. Won't be able to fly in that for a good few days, I'd reckon."

"I can wait." In truth, if he needed a ride off the world, Axel planned to "borrow" a vessel from someone else.

Cid bent over and picked up a second bracelet from the box at his feet, cushioning it in his old rag. "Where are you off to now; to take a look around town?"

"That's the idea."

"Well, just keep an eye out for the shadows."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Axel moved towards the exit, giving a small wave over his shoulder. "Later, Cid."

"Oh, wait."

Axel stopped and craned his neck back towards the counter.

"Sure I can't interest you in one of those cookies?" Cid asked, nudging his head in the direction of the plate.

"You call those cookies? Looks more like a plateful of burnt crumbs and melted chocolate," Axel jibed.

"Heh, maybe I'll give 'em to the café instead," Cid said with a flick of his nose. "When you come back, I'll have a batch made with a different recipe."

"I told you before: I'm more of an ice cream guy." Axel turned the door handles and left.

"Takes all types I guess," Cid muttered before giving the bracelet in his hand a spit shine.

Not more than fifteen minutes after Axel's departure from the shop, a knock came against the underground meeting room's door. The three Resistance members looked up as Aerith entered the room.

"Hooray! You're finally back!" Yuffie cheered, jumping from her seat.

"You're safe. I was starting to worry," Zack said as he got up to meet the new arrival.

"Zack? Why are you here?" Aerith asked, bewildered by his presence. "Did the King send you, too?"

Zack rubbed the back of his head. "Erm, no. It's all coincidence, really."

"Where's the message?" Leon interrupted, now standing next to Zack and gaining hold of Aerith's full attention.

"Leon, the King didn't send a message," she replied, stunning everyone in the room.

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"Please calm down, Leon." Growing up together gave Aerith an insight into Leon most people couldn't claim. She knew that once she delivered the news, Leon would take the whole mess of a problem unto his shoulders and fix it or die trying. Behind his stoic eyes and levelheaded exterior, he hid the tumbling turbulence of his childhood horrors. He never forgave himself for failing to protect his home from the darkness, and Aerith knew he would add the latest turn of events to the pile of self-accusations already burrowed deep within his heart.

On the way back to the Accessory Shop, Aerith spent the entire trip prepping herself to delivering the news. But even still, she dreaded her role as the bearer of ill news. Standing there in front of her comrades, she put on a brave face and prepared to stop Leon if he so much as made a move for his Gunblade. "There is no alternate battle plan," she stated. "The King conveyed one final message to his castle before falling victim to a Heartless ambush."

"_What?!"_ Leon's eyes went wide and he let his hands drop towards the hilt of his weapon.

"Leon, don't!" Aerith pleaded.

"I'm going to save him!" the Resistance leader asserted. "I'll knock back every last shadow until—"

"You can't!"

"Just watch me!"

Aerith shook her head, placing her hands around Leon's dominant arm and staying his hand. "You can't because the King is missing. We don't know where he is or if he's even still alive. His Gummi Ship's signal disappeared off our radar…and…it's been confirmed that the entire ship was destroyed."

Leon froze.

"No _way!_" The news knocked Yuffie clean off her feet, sending her barreling straight over the table and tumbling into the wall as if she had been struck in the gut with a cinder block.

"Then I'll go find him," Leon growled behind gritted teeth. "I'll take a ship and search for him. I won't stop until he's found!"

"What are you saying?" interjected Zack. "You're the head honcho of the _whole_ Resistance movement! We can't have our leader zooming around enemy space! What if they nab you too; then what? You're too important to be out there so I'll go instead."

"Both of you hold it!"

Everyone turned to look at the door.

"You are all hereby forbidden by the last-received orders designated by His Royal Majesty King Mickey to abandon your roles as Resistance Fighters! You can just leave finding the King and the Key to us."

Leon's eyes narrowed. "You—you're…"

* * *

Deep in the farthest reaches of space, all the ships comprising the Outer Rim blockade hovered at a standstill and awaited further orders from the lead vessel. Aboard the single unique vessel that stood proudly at the helm, Heartless crawled along the fully rigged ship, managing the sails, mopping the decks, polishing the cannons, and looking out from the crow's nest. Everything worked in mechanical, clockwork fashion. Yet inside the captain's quarters, all chaos broke loose as Captain Hook stood on the receiving end of Maleficent's venomous, berating tongue.

"You fool! How could you let that boy escape?" shouted the witch, green flames exploding from her staff and setting fire to all the nearby furniture. Mr. Smee hurried with a pale of water to try and douse the flames, but water did little against the enchanted fire. "After stalking every world in this area to learn his location, you let him flee the island's collapse!"

"Now, now, Maleficent," quivered the cowering captain, "there's no need to—"

"Silence!" The overpowering, booming volume of Maleficent's rage-filled order forced the captain to bite his tongue. "You _will_ find that boy, captain," she commanded, leaning her enflamed staff menacingly close to Hook's sweat-soaked face. "Chase him to the ends of all space if you must, but you will retrieve the Keyblade and bring it to me."

"But of course I—"

"And if you don't," Maleficent continued. "Losing your other hand will be the least of your worries." Darkness enveloped the room, blanketing everything including the green flames. When light returned, it shined only on the captain and his first mate.

"Blast that boy!" Captain Hook shouted, turning his fear into rage and swinging his hooked hand at his first mate. Like a chain reaction, the blame forced unto him by Maleficent now sought release onto the nearest target. "How could you let him slip through the net, Smee? Maleficent will not only have me other hand for this, but she'll feed me to the Heartless!"

"Temper, temper, Captain!" said Smee, ducking from the hook behind the captain's desk. "Even with the boy gone, we can still come out on top if we don't give up."

"You blithering blockhead! The scurvy brat's worlds away by now!" the captain continued to shout, his face turning deeper shades of red with each passing minute. "How can we snatch him if we don't know where he is?!"

"B-b-b-but, Captain!" Smee stuttered as he launched himself from the desk and hid behind the adjacent cot just as Hook's now unsheathed cutlass came within inches of his head. "We can use the ship's newly upgraded navigation system to track his position!"

Captain Hook suddenly froze. "The what? We can what?" Color rushed back to his face as he sprouted a new confident grin. "Ha, ha! Brilliant, Smee!" Sheathing his cutlass he straightened his red hat, setting the feather out of his eyes. "Hurry and find where that blasted boy and his key disappeared to!"

"Right away, Captain!" With a salute, Smee scurried out the door for the holds where the main navigation system was held. Moments later, he came flying back in and reported. "Signal tracked and course set, Captain!"

"Weigh anchor and hoist the sails, Mr. Smee! Full speed ahead!"

"Aye, aye, Captain Hook!"

The pirate ship along with several of its accompanying scouting squads launched towards the Core Worlds and soon arrived within close vicinity of Traverse Town. They hovered there, encircling the world and effectively barricading it from any ships looking to go into or out of the town.

"Here we are, Captain," Smee announced. He and Hook had left the captain's quarters and stood at the helm of the wheel.

"A world made of all the worlds crippled by the Heartless; how fitting for that blasted brat," the captain mused, twirling his beard through his hook. A sinister grin spread across his lips as he turned to his first mate. "Let's retrieve him with the aid of our _finer crewmen_."

"The Neoshadows it is, Captain." Smee cupped his hands over his mouth, about ready to shout out his orders to the Heartless below when Hook placed his hand and stilled his subordinate. "Captain…?"

"I do believe, Mr. Smee, this would be an excellent opportunity to unleash…_him_, wouldn't you agree?"

"_Him?_ Why, you don't mean—!"

Hook's grin darkened. "Release _him_ along with the shadows, Smee. Maleficent needs but the key; whatever I do to the scurvy brat is in me own pleasure."

Smee gulped, uncertain what the consequences to the ship would be after releasing _him_. A monster like _him_ proved too unpredictable and unstable to control for long. But an order from Captain Hook was law, and so he obeyed it without opposition. "Aye, aye, Captain." He scurried away from the wheel, hopping down into the cargo holds. Now supported by a most, if not all of the ship's crew, Smee and the pirate Heartless unlatched the sealed doors deep within the holds. "Listen up, everyone!" Smee announced into the below-freezing temperature room. "By Captain Hook's orders, you're to descend into the nearby world and collect the Keyblade! Now hop to it!"

At first glance, the freezing room appeared empty. But within seconds of Smee's order, dark shadows pooled into the room, wicked yellow eyes springing up to cover every inch of the shadows. Neoshadows sprung up from the darkened depths and vanished into swirls of dark portals bound for Traverse Town.

"That was the easy part," Smee muttered to himself as he shuffled back down the hall. Even accompanied by the pirate Heartless, he fretted over the dangers that awaited him in the deepest part of the holds. The entourage soon arrived at a large steel door lined with warning notices such as "do not enter", "do not pet", and "do not feed". With an audible gulp, Smee placed his hands on the crank connected to the door, and with the help of the pirates, turned it enough to budge open the mighty door.

Inside, a large metal crate taking up the entire width of the ship rested flat but not unmoving. Piercing grunts and howls permeated the metal casing as it quaked with sudden and violent jerks. Shaking from head to toe, Smee edged his way to the cargo-release switch. He signaled over to the pirates to secure the crate from further movement, to which they lined up along the sides, dropping their swords and pushing hard to maintain package within the bottom hatch's boundaries. But the presence of so many Heartless sent the imprisoned monster into such a fury that it let out a bone-shivering roar before tearing its claws straight through the metal casing.

Sweat pouring down every inch of his face, Smee hurriedly ran towards the switch and slammed his palm onto it. Gears creaked into motion all along the bottom of the ship as the cargo bay doors pulled open to release the cage. To the first mate's dismay, however, the process took its sweet time to complete. By the time the doors opened halfway, the monster's liberated claw had flung wildly about, slashing through a mass of pirate Heartless still keeping a feeble hold onto the cargo. They exploded into dark swirls, and the hearts released from them were sucked into the beast within the box, absorbed into its claw and doubling it in size.

The ship rocked and swayed with the ferocious animosity of the monster seeking to escape from its metal prison. Its feral howl blared from the crate as its mammoth claw finished off the few remaining Heartless. The violent undulations caused by the beast threatened to capsize the ship, even tear it in half, and just when Smee thought nothing else could possibly go awry, the beast's fangs pierced through the lid.

"N-n-not good!" Smee cried as he hightailed it out of the cargo hold before the beast could rear its head. He heard the crumpling of metal accompanied by another fierce roar, though something sounded peculiar about that roar. It boomed out enough to add further turbulence to the ship, and yet as it continued to resonate, its volume grew fainter and fainter as though it echoed from miles away to reach the holds. Curious, Smee peaked his head back into the room and saw the crate vanished! The hatch doors had finally opened full way and the monster fell from the ship to wreak its havoc on the unsuspecting town.

* * *

Strolling down the streets of the Second District with his hands in his pockets, Axel kept an eye out just in case Sora somehow managed to make his way to town after all. But as he approached the Gizmo Shop, he found no sign of the kid. He checked all the shops in the area, peering through the windows and doors, even venturing a gander in the back alley—but no luck. The Keyblade master wasn't in town and that spelled trouble for everyone.

Before entering the shop, however, he paused. Something troubled him about his surroundings. He bumped into a couple of shadows here and there, dispatching of them without too much effort, but that didn't bother him. No, it was something else that seemed off; something he neglected to pay much attention to. Turning his gaze skyward, Axel noticed for the first time the excessive amount of light emanating from the stars. He studied them for several minutes before coming to a stunning realization. "Those aren't stars; they're ships!" Indeed, hundreds of ships littered the nighttime sky, giving the appearance of overly radiant stars. "Did those guys follow us here or is this something else?" Not wasting another second, Axel hurried into the Gizmo Shop for answers.

Inside the shop amongst the numerous turning gears, flashing lights, and hydraulic platforms, Axel could find no trace of the Resistance's supposed computer. After searching every nook and cranny, the only machine of interest he could find amongst the odd mess of seemingly useless junk was a broken clock with fixed hands that pointed to 6:54. "That punk lied to me!" Axel grunted as he flicked the broken clock out of spite, which incidentally dropped two postcards at his feet. "Computer with 24-surveillance, huh? Tch."

"Can I help you?"

Axel looked up towards the backdoor of the shop to where a man stood smoking a pipe.

"Not unless you can tell me where to find the alleged computer this place is supposed to house," he replied.

"Are you with the Resistance?" the man asked, taking the pipe out of his mouth and pointing it at Axel.

"Leon said you had a computer here," Axel said in hopes that namedropping would provide the answer.

"So you know Leon, do you?"

"Yeah, I just came from a meeting with him and the others over in the First District."

"I see." The man bit the pipe back into his mouth and took several puffs. "And you need access to the computer?"

Axel nodded. "Need to check the surveillance logs on the Outer Rim blockade. Word is something fishy's going on out there."

"Very well. Let's get you those logs, then." The man entered the shop in full now, closing the door behind him and pocketing his pipe. "Step aside, will you? Off you go, now." He shooed Axel away from the clock and rearranged the hands so that they pointed to 8:07. Upon doing this, the workings of the shop increased in speed, whirring their mechanisms around at a dizzying rate until the clock revolved to the side leading to a set of secret descending stairs. "Watch your step," said the man as he stepped to the side and allowed Axel access to the hidden opening.

"What is _with_ you guys and hidden staircases?" Axel mused. He climbed down into the room below where lo and behold he found the Resistance's area of computer operations. Four computer monitors in total encompassed the room, each with its own specific function Axel guessed. The room in itself was a fair size, comprising of most the width of the building. The door on the far end suggested another room sat adjacent to the computer center.

"The surveillance monitor is this computer," the man said after climbing down after Axel. He walked over to the screen across from the stairs and sat at the accompanying chair.

"Are you the one who checks the feed every six hours?" Axel asked, now standing near the monitor.

"Not only that, I manage this whole center," he said while typing several commands onto the keyboard.

"You a computer whiz or something?"

The man chuckled. "Hardly. They only picked me because my house is right next door to the shop."

"How reassuring," Axel scoffed.

"Don't worry, err…" The man paused and looked over his shoulder at Axel with a questioning glance.

"Axel."

"Axel? I'm Roger," he said, reaching out to shake Axel's hand, to which Axel waved off. "Don't worry, Axel. I know what I'm doing. I've been at this for seven years." He turned right back around and continued accessing the surveillance program. Thirty seconds later and he pulled up the feed of the armada, displaying it across the wide screen. "There you have it; the Outer Rim blockade."

Axel leaned in, scrutinizing the image with the greatest care. "You mind if I take a more thorough look?"

Roger shook his head. "Be my guest." He stood up to vacate his seat. After giving a quick explanation on how to work the program, he left Axel to scan through the six-hour footage. Yet even after checking the latest images from two hours ago, he found that the blockade hadn't moved so much as an inch from their initial position.

"That can't be right," he muttered. "Where did all those ships come from if not from the main force?" He fast-forwarded the footage again, this time manually clicking through each frame in order to get a closer look at the field. Though again he failed to discern much from the stationary blockade. "Hey, Roger."

"Yes?"

"I'm only seeing this footage from one angle. Don't you have any other cameras out there?"

"We have several, yes. I forgot to mention you can switch the feed to a different source by pressing shift, control, and a number at the same time."

"Gotcha." Upon switching to a different angle, the battlefield told a much different story. He found chunks of ships from the far end vanished between frames, and upon closer inspection via the slow-motion capture, he determined their destination as east of the Outer Rim. "Hey, Roger, what's east of the Outer Rim?"

"The Core Worlds, of course."

Axel pushed away from the screen and got to his feet. "Do you have a telescope?"

"A…telescope?" Roger asked, caught off guard by the strange request.

"You know—an optical instrument that uses a combination of mirrors and lenses to make distant objects appear larger and nearer than they actually are."

"I know what a telescope is, but why would you need one?"

"If my hunch is correct, a portion of the blockade broke off and dispatched its forces to this world."

"What?!" Roger jumped, his pipe falling out of his breast pocket.

"Yeah, exactly." Axel folded his arms, his expression dead serious. "I also noticed one other key feature: the fully rigged ship at the lead appears in one frame and vanishes in the next, meaning the commander's probably in this area too."

"How can you be sure?" he asked, picking up his pipe and polishing off with his sleeve.

"I'll tell you once I take a better look at your skies."

"And for that, you need a telescope…" Roger noted. "I'll get you one." He walked off into the adjacent room, and moments after shuffling around, dropping boxes and sending their contents clanging against the floor, he returned with a telescope in hand. "Take this and have a look around while I program-check the live feed of the Rim."

"Do you have any guys out there?" Axel asked, taking the telescope.

"No. All of our scouting equipment is unmanned," Roger replied, taking back his seat. "Dr. Cid programmed several cameras to blend in with the asteroid debris of that area so we could keep constant watch over the Heartless without having to risk lives."

Axel raised his eyebrow. "Oh, so he's a doctor, now?"

"Pardon?"

"Cid the accessories man's a doctor?"

"You seem to have the wrong impression, Axel. Cid Highwind only deals with gummi ships. Dr. Cid Bunansa deals with surveillance and defense gear, and Cid Al-Bhed handles all our offensive capabilities."

"Wait, wait—you're telling me there are three people named _Cid?_"

"You didn't know?"

Axel shook his head.

"I'm surprised they didn't tell you," Roger said thoughtfully. "The Resistance has three headquarters amongst the stars, and each HQ has an engineering mastermind named Cid."

"Doesn't that get complicating?"

"At times. I'm just thankful they live on different worlds."

"Huh." Axel shrugged the thought and headed towards the stairs. "That's an interesting tidbit, but I have more important things to do."

"Yes, you'd best go check the situation."

"Already on it." Axel climbed back upstairs into the Gizmo Shop. Like the fireplace in the First District, the clock's sensors automatically detected when everyone was clear of the entrance and slid back into place.

It happened as he started for the door; Heartless swarmed the shop, popping out of dark portals and surrounding him. "Well, well," Axel mused. "Look what we have here!" He set the telescope high up on one of the nearby platforms and summoned forth his chakrams. "Maybe I don't need to go stargazing after all."

The Neoshadows wasted no time in pouncing on Axel, their razor-sharp claws tearing into him. "Hey, kids—don't you know? I'm from the nonexistent neighborhood!" he mocked, summoning forth a burst of flames to burn the shadows off his person. Taking down Neoshadows came as second nature to him so it came as no surprise that the two dozen Heartless fell like flies at his feet within seconds. Yet the encounter troubled him. Neoshadows were not native to Traverse Town; not in the old universe and not in the current universe from what he managed to determine through his tour of the district. With those thoughts in mind, he grabbed the telescope and rushed out the door only to be bombarded with another ambush.

"All you shadows here just for me? Aww, I'm flattered!" No sooner did he let his taunt fly than the Heartless up and ignored him altogether, jumping off the edge of the street and imbedding their claws deep within the shop's exterior. "Where in the heck do you think _you're_ going?" Axel shouted, somewhat irked that they'd run away like cowards. He watched as they scaled the building heading for the roof where the Traverse Town bell sat caged below the town clock. "What the heck are they up to?" he wondered, throwing his chakrams to knock off as many Neoshadows as he could before they reached the top.

When it occurred to him that the Heartless wanted to somehow sabotage the Resistance's efforts, he dodged back inside the shop and ran for the opposite exit. Climbing the ladder to the roof, he saw a massive mob of Heartless homing in on the bell. Not taking the time to ponder its significance, Axel charged into the fray and slashed clean through the Neoshadows.

He bypassed their claws, skipped over their darkened puddles, and swerved from their attempts to pounce him. When he finished outmaneuvering their pathetic offensive strikes, he sliced his chakrams clear through the weaklings, sparing mercy for none. He burned them, and he slashed them; he tossed them off the roof and he launched them high into the sky. Finally, but one shadow remained, twitching and bobbing its pitch-black head from side to side as its yellow eyes peered behind the mass of crates lined in front of the bell. It hunched itself forward, bending its legs and preparing to leap out and strike its target. But as it became airborne, a chakram flew out and imbedded itself into the shadow's back, causing it to explode into wisps of darkness.

"Pathetic punks. As if they could get away from me." Axel summoned back his wayward chakram and looked around to ensure he defeated all the Heartless. Satisfied with the deserted roof, he allowed his curiosity to control his next actions as he ventured off to inspect the bell. "Why were they so desperate to get at this thing?" he wondered as he approached the crates. But his eyes left the bell and drifted down in shock and awe. His body stood stunned, unable to figure a reaction proportionate to the new discovery.

Hidden behind one of the many crates with his back to the wooden stakes fencing off the shop's bell and his eyes closed shut was none other than Sora.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

Of course I remember that day; it seemed like only hours since I had last seen him, but as I looked down into his unconscious face, it struck me like a sack of cinder blocks swinging full-force across my chest. I could hear my blood pumping hard in my ears—a sensation I thought long gone since the day my true name fell forever out of my reach. There he was, my best friend; his eyes closed and his body at peace like he didn't have a care in the world. He was really there and not just some figment of my imagination.

I never expected the difficulty of standing there so close to him. Everything except my heart and mind stood at a complete loss for action. Why did I clam up the way I did? I'll tell you: the realization sunk in that I wasn't Number VIII, the Flurry of Dancing Flames of Organization XIII; that I didn't have a mob of Nobodies around me fulfilling my every whim; that I didn't look like some shady guy in a black coat hiding in the shadows; that I wasn't a renegade out on the lam from a vengeful group of former comrades. I found it all hard to conceptualize, and in truth, the new me didn't know how to act.

I wasn't that Axel anymore. He didn't know me; I could start over and do things right. I had a clean slate, a brand new chance and a brand new reason for living.

…Or did I?

As I stood there eying his every feature…I wondered…what to do… How would I define myself to him in those moments? Who would I be to him and just how far would I go to get what I wanted?

But why are you asking me about this? It's in the past now so you already know the answers. I still don't trust you or your people. The last thing you'll ever hear out of me as I sit here chronicling my last words is congratulatory praise for your "efforts". Everything that's happened is your fault…but you don't care that I know the truth. Not anymore at least. I think our pal Captain Jack said it best: "Dead men tell no tales, savvy?"

* * *

Late one night in the Second District when everyone ducked for cover indoors to escape the Heartless raid, two people remained exposed under the starry sky. Axel stood stock-still atop the roof of the Gizmo Shop just inches away from the kid he spent the better portion of the day trying to track down. After having battled his way through the mob of Neoshadows eager to steal the heart and Keyblade of the sleeping, defenseless kid, Axel continued to grasp his chakrams at his sides while scrutinizing the boy. He didn't quite know how to react at first, doing little more than staring wide-eyed with mouth slightly agape in awe. How could he sleep through all that mayhem, Axel wondered. How could he continue to lie there so vulnerable and oblivious to the world?

_Do it._

Yes, he was vulnerable and ripe for an attack. If Axel didn't arrive in time, who was to say what evil deeds the Heartless would have committed? The Heartless feared the Keyblade, after all. They strove to wipe it from existence to ensure their reign of dark terror would continue throughout the worlds. But thankfully, Axel was there to watch Sora as he slept.

_No one will know. Turn him into a Heartless._

Axel remained motionless, uncertain what to do next. Should he wake him, he wondered? But if he did wake him, it would fall unto Axel's shoulders to explain the situation about the Heartless and the Keyblade. Originating in an alternate universe meant that he possessed little of the true facts surrounding the current universe and he would potentially lead the Keyblade master astray. Or perhaps he would just carry him to the safety of the First District and let the Resistance fill the kid in on everything going on in the worlds.

_Turn him into a Heartless and you will be able to meet Roxas that much sooner. Do it._

Making his first movement in over five minutes, Axel lifted his chakrams and held them level with his chest. His eyes remained fixed on Sora, inspecting every last detail of his face as he continued to sleep unawares of Axel's presence. Oh how he looked like _Roxas_, Axel thought. Though a year younger and quite shorter from what he remembered, Sora changed very little between universes. He still wore his big, yellow shoes and his baggy, red pants as in the time Axel first saw him in Castle Oblivion. The silver, crown-shaped pendant remained dangling around his neck, reflecting the starlight from the sky. And of course…his face looked the same. Yes, the same face…that he and _Roxas_ both shared.

_Abduct him and torture his heart until his Nobody is born._

"…" Gripping his chakrams tighter in his grasp, he shifted his legs into a fighting stance while his eyes still bore holes into Sora.

_Do it._

"…"

_Do it._

"…"

_**DO IT!**_

Hollering a powerful battle cry, Axel extended his chakrams and spun on his heels, swerving around to strike at the air behind him. Though instead of meeting nothing, the sharp edges of his weapons seared along some sort of metallic-like substance camouflaged to meld in with the scenery. Sparks went flying causing a helmeted man clad in black and silver armor to regain his visibility.

"Who the _heck_ are you supposed to be?!" Axel snarled, chakrams still raised high and ready to launch a second strike.

"I…" the man announced in a deep, mystical voice as the faint scratches struck by Axel across the silver crown on his chest plate mended themselves back into flawless metal, "…am _the Messenger._"

* * *

"We're the King's messengers! …Or message-forwarders if you want to be technical about it. But once we're done forwarding, we've got more important things to do."

Leon straightened his posture, keeping his eyes narrowed on the visitors crammed in the doorframe. "The King delivered his message to you? What did it say? Give me specifics," he demanded in a gruff, cut-and-dry manner.

"Hey, you don't have to be so nasty about it!"

"Don't mind him. He's just upset that the King's missing," Zack interjected. His dismal visage brightened up until a small smile sprouted across his face. "Donald, Goofy—it's been a while. How've you been? With you guys here to look into the matter, we can breathe a little easier."

"Gawrsh, it's good to see you too, Zack!" Goofy said, returning the smile in full. "Though, uh…" he paused to rub his head, eyes rolling off to the side, "wish it were under better circumstances."

"Yeah…" Zack sighed, letting his smile crumble and his shoulders droop again. "So what did that message say?"

"Well," Donald began, "uh, it said…huh, what did it say, Goofy?"

"Hmm…" Goofy knitted his brows in pensive thought, rubbing his finger under his chin as he tried to recall the exact words of the King's final message. "First…we have'ta find that 'Key' the King mentioned!"

"Right, that thing," Donald nodded. "Just like I already told them."

"And then…well, shucks! I can't remember anything except finding the Key and keeping these here guys from going after the King's ship!"

"Aww, c'mon, guys!" Yuffie cried, now back on her feet after her unfortunate encounter with the wall. "How could you forget the details of such an important message?"

"At least we remembered the important stuff!" Donald huffed. "You guys just stay here in town keeping all the new arrivals safe while Goofy and I go track down that Key."

"Ahyuck, yeah! With the Key, we'll surely be able to find the King!" Goofy added.

"And how is that?" Leon growled, furrowing his brows. "Who knows if we'll ever find that Keyblade. What's important now is saving the King!"

"Leon…" Aerith tried to sooth him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged it off with a small grunt.

"And we're gonna save 'im!" Goofy contended, his face now scrunched with determination. "But we can't go around not obeying his orders 'cuz then there's no point in even calling him 'the King', now is there?"

Leon took to crossing his arms. "Whatever," he said after several moments of silence, and everyone knew then that Goofy's logic managed to cool him down, if only by a small margin. The Resistance leader still itched to pull out all the stops to find one of his dearest friends. He failed to protect his loved ones once before and losing King Mickey served to deepen the wound in his heart. But an order from the King just before his disappearance was still an order, and if he trusted the Royal Captain of the Guard and the Royal Court Magician with the Resistance's most vital task, then he would respect the decision, albeit reluctantly.

"So you guys don't remember anything else?" Yuffie pressed. "Not even a little, teensy-weensy bit of info?"

Donald and Goofy looked at each other with bashful doubt. "Well, err…"

"Ahem, allow _me_ to explain, fellas." Jiminy Cricket jumped out from his comfy resting spot in the rim of Goofy's hat and landed on the nearby table. "I managed to chronicle the whole message in my journal."

"Gawrsh, Jiminy! You sure are a lifesaver," Goofy said with a relieved smile.

Everyone crowded around the table, leaning in so they could hear every word the little cricket had to recite. After fishing around his pockets, Jiminy pulled out his tiny, leather-bound journal and licked his finger before flipping through the pages. "Ah, here it is," he said after finding the correct entry.

"Ahem, this was addressed to Donald: 'Not sure why, but a whole lot of worlds up and vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye. Could be the Heartless so I'm on my way to investigate. It's goin' to be dangerous and chances are I'll be out of touch for a long while. That said, I've got a mission for ya, pal. There's someone with a "key"—the key to our survival. So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him. Got it? We need that key or we're doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon. Tell him to keep doin' a good job fightin' the Heartless and to stick to the plan we've already settled on. While you're at it, ask him to give you guys the full details on the Order's latest activities and point ya in the right direction.

"'Oh, by the way: would ya apologize to Minnie for me? I guess I won't be able to pick up that care package from the post office after all. Thanks, pal.'" Jiminy closed his book and looked up at everyone. "Well, gang, there you have it: the King's message in full."

"So then…he wants us to go ahead with it…" Leon uttered. He paused, closing his eyes and withdrawing deep into a state of self-reflective thought.

"Donald, Goofy—we'll help you in any way we can," Aerith assured them.

"Great! Now let's get crackin', toots," Donald replied. "Tell us where to go from here."

"That's difficult to say…"

"Well, gee, guys," Yuffie began, taking over for Aerith, "if we knew where to find the Keyblade in the first place, we would've already done it."

Goofy raised his hand to cup his chin in contemplation. "Hrm… D'ya think it's somewhere here on this world?"

"Unless the wielder recently lost his world, it's not likely," Aerith replied. "We would know if the Keyblade master was in town."

"How?"

"The Heartless…" Leon said, now out of his deep thought. "They'd be attracted to him like a magnet. The second the Keyblade master enters a world, the Heartless sense the blade's presence and flock to it. Nothing like that's happened yet, so we can say he's not in town."

Donald started tapping his impatient foot and let out a huff. "Then where do we go to find him?"

"We can't give you that information." Turning for the door, Leon walked passed everyone and paused in the doorway, looking back over his shoulder. "However, we can give you all the recent intel we've gathered on the Order of Thanatos. If anyone's just as eager to find the Keyblade it's them. Follow me."

With a nod, Donald waddled after him followed by Aerith, Yuffie and Zack. Goofy paused at the table to scoop Jiminy back into his hat and then tagged after the others. "Hey, wait for me, fellas!"

After leaving the shop, the group descended the stairs and headed towards the doors leading to the Third District. Pluto, King Mickey's faithful companion, caught sight of his other two favorite buddies from across the way where he spent his time playing with an overly hyperactive Dalmatian puppy, and sprinted to meet up with them before they crossed districts.

"That's one less thing I have to worry about, kupo…" muttered a nearby moogle wearing a "borrowed" red baseball cap that flattened his pompom against his head.

"Hey, it's Unca Donald!" Huey exclaimed as he caught sight of his uncle just prior to swiping his hat back from the kleptomaniac moogle.

"I wonder what he's doing here?" Dewey pondered.

"Think we should go find out?" Louie asked.

"I don't know… he looks kinda busy," Huey noted as he yanked the cap straight off the moogle and placed it back on his head. That resulted in the moogle's pompom springing back up with a playful bounce and re-exciting the Dalmatian. He made a run for it, but the three boys didn't notice.

"Yeah, maybe we should wait until later," Dewey agreed.

"Maybe we can sell him some _special_ potions when he comes by the shop," Louie added with a sneaky smirk. The three boys laughed deviously and headed back to man the cash register in eager anticipation for their dear uncle to pay them a visit.

Within the Third District, Pluto stood at attentive guard outside the sole house in the area. The rickety, old building hardly resembled a place the Resistance's would hold as their secret base. The exterior was in poor condition. A moth-eaten canopy fixed above the windows, its colors dull and faded; the paint job chipped around the edge of the door, which in itself once held an artistic, wooden mold that eroded over time until the door looked nothing short of a coarse and uneven wooden slab; and the roof shingles, most either cracked or missing altogether, needed desperate attention.

The house was perfect for a group of freedom fighters hoping to keep low key and avert any suspicious eyes. Inside, bulletin boards filled with detailed maps, gummi blueprints, and battle strategies lined the walls. Rows of filing cabinets cluttered the farthest wall, each filled to the rim with important intel on the Heartless and the Order of Thanatos the Resistance managed to collect over the years. In order to ensure their secrecy, Dr. Cid fitted the hideout with special windows that created a pseudo image to all those seeking to peer into the building. Instead of seeing the mess of blueprints and files, anyone sneaking a peak through the window saw a humble, homey environment with wallpapered walls, a comfortable bed, and a table with a vase of flowers as its centerpiece.

This particular hideout varied from the secret meeting room under the Accessory Shop in that it housed all their most vital information and served as their main intelligence hub. They utilized the shop's meeting room primarily for sending and receiving transmissions via Cid's radio, arming themselves with equipment suitable for the job from the weapons cache hidden under the floor panels, and planning out the Resistance Gummi Fleet's strategies. The shop also served as a place to store valuable items and trinkets inside a secret safe hidden within the refrigerator.

"Aerith, pull files OoT-57 and GSR-88," Leon ordered as he sat down at the round table fixed in the middle of the room and signaled for everyone else to join him.

After extracting the bulky, manila folders from two cabinets, Aerith handed them to Leon and took the vacant seat next to him. "I have here the latest intel we've gathered on the Order of Thanatos and the most up-to-date Gummi Ship routes there are leading from here to the various worlds whose barriers have been destroyed by the Heartless. You'll need the latter in order to input the correct coordinates into your ship when you blast out of here." He handed the GSR-88 folder to Donald, whom he knew as the Kingdom Ship's pilot. "Now, let's talk Order of Thanatos…"

* * *

Suited from head to toe in brilliant black armor rimmed with silver, the man towering over Axel resembled the Gatekeeper in build. He too concealed his face behind a winged helmet featuring a dark visor that concealed the eyes, nose, and mouth. The expansive curvature of the plating around his arms, thighs, and torso suggested he maintained a rather muscular frame and therefore had the power to match his defenses if he so wished. Of course, the silver crown engraved along his chest served as the most prominent feature upon his armor. It matched the symbol hung around Sora's neck, although larger and polished to a finer shine than the necklace. Axel could see himself reflected in the crown, his brows knitted and his upper lip and nostril lifted in a menacing snarl.

"_The Messenger?_" Axel echoed in agitation. "Are you in league with the Gatekeeper?"

The Messenger resolved to stand firm in his place yielding neither movement nor reply. Perhaps he continued to survey Axel from behind his visor, or perhaps he thought the question rather trite and bided his time for a query worthy of his answer. Whatever stalled the Messenger in his response, it mattered little to Axel. The idea of a cloaked tempter hiding in his shadow, invading his privacy and spying on him for motives unknown infuriated him.

"Answer me!"

"I am the Messenger," the armored man repeated.

"We've already established that!" Axel growled. "Who sent you? What do you want with me?"

"It is my duty to deliver you a message."

Axel's eyes narrowed. "What _kind_ of message?"

"This is a message…" The Messenger slid his left foot backwards, tilting his body on an angle and raised his hand to point his index finger straight to the heavens. "…Of your _doom_."

Before Axel could muster up a reaction to that ominous and ridiculous response, a colossal, metal crate fell from the sky and crashed in the middle of the Second District's main walkway. If not for Traverse Town's extensive security system, the massive crate's impact would have crushed the ground and nestled itself deep within a crater spanning the full length of the district. However, just as the concealed sensors lined along the ground detected and calculated the object's mass, density and estimated depth of impact, the defense computer running throughout the entire town counteracted the weight of the crate and erected an electronic field. That field in turn increased the walkway's impact tolerance, thus negating the damages altogether.

"What in the…?" Axel grit his teeth, eying the crate with well-warranted concern as two mammoth, scaly claws broke clean through the casing and tore the lid asunder. "Is that supposed to be a Heartless?!"

Averaging the size of a Darkside, the gruesome beast looked more like a dinosaur than a Heartless. Its arms resembled whales with the meaty portions concentrated at the biceps and gradually thinning out to form the "tail" segment, which in this case was composed of the two long and sharp appendages that made up its claws with a third, opposable one connected by a crooked joint to the side of each palm. Covered in several protective layers of scales all along its body, it held more than enough defensive strength to repel most attacks. Yet for added precaution, its upper torso brandished a thick and heavy breastplate engraved with the Heartless insignia that bore numerous deep gashes from its many past battles. A jagged-edged, rusted helmet with ivory horns jutting out of either side sat atop the beast's crown, covering its cranium down to its rectangular snout.

The monstrous Heartless flipped out of its prison and touched ground, the sensors already compensating for its tremendous weight and preventing the formulation of mega-sized potholes. The beast let out a feral roar, opening its mouth to its full extent and giving a clear view at the series of knife-like razor teeth lining its gums. It thrashed its spiked tail along the ground, smacking aside the remainder of the metal crate and batting it straight out of the district with such force that it flew out of sight into the night sky.

"You—!" Axel snapped his heated sights on the Messenger. "Why did you do this?!" he demanded, slashing one of his chakrams in the air to emphasize his rage.

"Don't blame the messenger," the armored man replied with a hint of cocky cynicism, as if to spite Axel. He then boomed with ominous laughter, tossing back his head as his chest heaved up and down before his visibility melted back into the scenery.

"Don't you run away from me—hey!" Axel tried to strike at the man again, despite knowing his senses could no longer detect the Messenger's presence anywhere near the vicinity. If not for the horrifying abomination closing in on his position, Axel would have focused all his abilities into hunting the armored man down before he covered too much ground. But the chilling roar, one powerful enough to shake the very foundation of the roof on which he stood, made it perfectly clear where his priorities lay.

"_**RrRRrAaAAaRrgGGhHh!"**_

The beast's glowing, yellow eyes fell on the Gizmo Shop, its senses detecting the delicious scent of a heart bathed in a special light. How rare for a Heartless to discover a heart of such integrity and strength, all ripe with juicy optimism and glazed with amiable warmth. The idea of devouring such a delectable treat drove the beast wild. Saliva dripped from its pale, green tongue, splashing to the ground where it pooled into and flooded any uneven areas.

The maddening scent of the Keyblade's chosen heart lured the beast dangerously closer to the shop, and with each quake-inducing step, Axel had to think that much faster on how to keep it far away from its target. He glanced back over his shoulder at the kid, who, despite the intense tremors caused by the monster's every move, continued to doze off unawares. "Hey, wake up already!" Axel shouted, but no luck. It seemed that nothing short of a bonk to the head would pry Sora away from Dream Land. "Tch, make my job harder why don't ya?"

Reluctant to turn his back to the advancing enemy, Axel opted to take on the beast without help from the Keyblade master. "At this point, he's just a rookie," he reasoned. "He'll only get in the way and get himself chomped to bits. Can't make friends with a pile of mincemeat, now can I? Heh."

The beast let out another vicious roar, swiping its claw along the roof of the shop to rid it of all the obstructions lying between the beast and its prey. Axel launched himself into the air in time to avoid contact with the same claws that pulverized the various crates concealing Sora.

"Looks like it's time to fire up the grill!" he hollered with a battle-crazed smirk, twirling his chakrams between his fingers and setting them aflame.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Once upon a time, there was a man who died—and with him died the hopes and dreams of all those who desired the restoration of the _Old Kingdom_. For you see, in his life, the man strived to harness the power, wisdom, and might necessary to undo the greatest sin ever to befall mankind. He erected his own kingdom and toiled away to purge the darkness from the hearts of all who came to live under his protection. But in his endeavors, an even greater sin emerged to consume all those daring to dream of the past's resurrection."

"Where are we? What's going on?"

"This new kingdom could not achieve its desires without the paragon of light to sit upon its throne. Only the King of old was worthy to lead the people; only the King of old could herald in the _Age of True Light_. The man and his apprentice sought to give rebirth to the King who sacrificed himself protecting all that he could from the war that shattered his kingdom and left it in ruinous fragments scattered across the sea of space. His vision consumed him and grew to consume his home. Dabbling in arts forbidden, the man destroyed all that he loved and his heart was sentenced to relive his failures and suffer for all eternity."

"Can't you hear me? Hey!"

"All hope seemed lost as the darkness that took root in the kingdom began to spread to its neighboring world, and the only two men who could stop it were consumed by their creation. Yet, unbeknownst to them, the true King left an heir to his Kingdom—an heir that would live on despite his father's fate. The Prince continues to live dormant within a special heart that is reincarnated every cycle. He lies in wait for the moment when he will rise to challenge the darkness and reunite the kingdom, aided by all who still dare to dream."

"I don't understand any of this! What are you saying?"

"And when he awakens…"

"Kairi…what is—what are you—"

"…Only then will the man burdened by eternal grief and sorrow be unshackled from his fate."

"…Kairi, wait!"

"_With Shield guarding the path and Sword piercing the shadows, the Prince will ascend with Key in hand to take his father's throne and return the Realm of Light to grace."_

* * *

In the Organization days when his boss sent him out to do recon or clear a path for a major operation, Axel went head-to-head with many a Heartless. He fought all kinds back in the day; big ones, small ones, round ones, square ones, fat ones, skinny ones, toothy ones, headless ones, limbless ones, bipedal ones, quadrupedal ones, hairy ones, scaly ones, metallic ones, armored ones, dark ones, multicolored ones, musical ones, nocturnal ones, flying ones, and driving ones. In sum, Axel managed to take on every Heartless of the rainbow, yet never in his experience did he encounter something whose bones logically belonged in a museum accompanied by a tour guide giving vivid information to as how it became extinct during the ice age.

The huge, feral monster towering over him with its begrimed claws launching multiple assaults to claim its new Axel-roasted dinner was _not_ a Heartless in his book. Sure, the emblem depicted on its armor matched those given to artificial Heartless. But with people like Scrooge McDuck trying to make a pretty penny in any way possible, Axel hoped the emblem in the current universe could have been a marketing gimmick. Some would call his theory nothing short of wishful thinking. One swift poke of its claw into Axel's chest, and whatever little heart the Nobody managed to regain would forever fall into darkness. A true dinosaur would eat its lunch and leave it at that, but a Heartless dino's appetite went far beyond second or third helpings—it wanted dessert, and nothing tasted sweeter than a ripe, juicy heart.

Axel launched attack after attack, dodging swipes from the beast's tail and twirling around any incoming claws. But no matter how fast he fired his enflamed chakrams, they did little more than bounce off the monster's thick scales. How could anything so resilient and impervious to his attacks be a Heartless? Just eight minutes into the battle, and already a layer of sweat glistened across Axel's face as he took a moment to try and catch his breath before the next assault.

"What are they _feeding_ these things?" Axel exclaimed as the spiked tail made another strike at him. He jumped up, flinging himself towards a nearby building where he redounded to launch himself into a mid-air somersault. Touching ground for but a moment, he again thrust himself back into the air just as the tail returned for another shot. "Anyone know any good jump rope rhymes? I picked this one up from a couple of mice: _Cinderella dressed in yellow, went upstairs to kiss a 'fella_…" He continued bouncing off the ground to avoid the fierce lashes from the monster's tail, working himself around the beast and towards a nearby fountain. "Hey, dino! What'dya get when you mix fire and water?"

"_**RrRRrAaAAaRrgGGhHh!"**_

"Ooohh! Close, but no." Touching ground for one last time to build up a good bit of potential, Axel launched high into the air, twisting his body to aim an outstretched hand towards the fountain. A series of fireballs exploded from his palm, colliding into the water with a sizzling hiss. Steam shot up from the fountain to blanket the district in a thick layer of steamy fog. "Now you see me, and now you don't."

Axel faded into the fog, maneuvering around the Heartless to steer clear of its enraged rampage long enough to catch his breath and think things through. The trick bought him precious few moments to come up with a better plan of attack other than dodge, dodge, and dodge some more. "Chakrams can't pierce it and fire doesn't faze it…what's left? If I could knock down a building and bury it under some rubble, it might work but the odds are against me. There has to be another way—some trick to toppling it."

The Heartless let out another thunderous roar, thrashing its claws all along the walkways while its tail swept along the ground in furious strokes. Losing its target frustrated the beast and it employed every tactic it could to try and get a lucky strike through the steam. It thirsted for the pain-filled screams of a fleshy prey howling in agony, and the desire fueled its impatience to the breaking point. Fed up with the futility of navigating through the steam, the beast stopped in the dead center of the district and inhaled a mighty breath through its snout. All the steam rushed into its nostrils, and within seconds, the protective fog concealing Axel dissipated leaving him vulnerable.

"I bet that cleared its sinuses…" Axel fell and flattened his chest against the ground in time to avoid a head-on collision with his least favorite spiked jump rope. The tail snapped back for a second swipe before Axel rolled back onto his feet and ran clear from the Heartless to by himself just a few more seconds to think. "At this rate, I'm going to have a coronary before the thing gets anywhere near my chest!" He panted hard as he slid down the path leading towards the Third District only to push his foot up against the nearest wall and ricochet up to the rooftops. Of course, he couldn't reach a place high enough to get away from the colossal Heartless. It spotted him within seconds and sent its claws in like a couple of homing missiles.

Axel rolled out of the way, and as he did so, shot his chakrams at the beast's head. They sheared through the air and collided with the horned helmet, rebounding off it with a loud clank. An enraged roar boomed through the district and the infuriated monster retaliated by ramming its body into the building. "Peeved, are we? Heh, just as I thought. Armored Heartless rule #1: the armor's there to protect the soft spots. Take off the armor and smash away!" Axel turned himself into a human rolling pin and spun across the rumbling roof. "Just need to knock that helmet off and—what the?"

In one fell swoop, the beast's claws swiped Axel clear off the roof and sent him crashing into the ground. He tumbled onto his shoulders, shielding his head from damage and concentrating the brunt of the force into his limbs. Lifting up his dazed head, the world spun around through his blurred vision. He had little time to react when the Heartless closed in, lifting its mammoth, soiled foot and hovering it just above Axel's body. The shadow blanketing him grew deeper and darker as the Heartless lowered its limb to press its target flatter than a pancake.

"I failed…? No…_no!_ I _can't _fail!" Gritting his teeth, Axel forced all his energy into his palms in an attempt to hoist himself to his feet. But even if he managed to pull it off, the heart-hungry Heartless wasted no time in claiming its long-awaited prize. With no time left on the clock, Axel could do little more than struggle feebly against his fate.

_SMACK!_

"_**AaAAaRrgGGhaaAAaHhrrRRrr…!"**_

"Huh?" At the sound of the beast's painful yelp, Axel glanced up to see a sight for sore eyes. A wave of relief mixed with joy like none he had ever experienced washed over him as his eyes rested on the familiar gold and silver of the Kingdom Key embedded like a splinter in the monster's heel.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" hollered a voice so familiar and welcomed by Axel that he actually _smiled_ at the sound of it. Grabbing the hilt of his Keyblade, Sora gave it a quick yank to pull it from the wound, which sent the ferocious beast tumbling backwards writhing in pain. "Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down to get at eye-level with Axel.

"Just peachy," Axel grunted as he pushed himself back to his feet. He summoned back his chakrams and twirled them in his fingers. "But we don't have time to chat now. You really are something… That thing has a literal Achilles heel, but it's not enough to take it down for the count."

"I know," replied Sora as he hunched over into his own stance.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

"Yeah… I threw this key thing at its back a couple of times to get its attention, but it kept bouncing off. When I saw it was going to crush you, I had to try and stop its foot somehow, so I tried hitting that instead." Sora let out a small, nervous laugh. "Good thing it worked, huh?"

"I'll say…"

The Heartless let out another bout of ear-shattering roars as it recovered its balance and took a swipe at the two warriors with its tail. They both jumped out of the way, tumbling back into the center of the district's plaza.

"So how do we stop this thing?" Sora asked, running away from feisty tail.

"The helmet. We have to get a shot at its bare head."

"How?"

"Like this!" Axel swerved around, flicking his chakrams out of his grasp and sending them in a one-way collision course with the beast's heels. Howls of pain and agony quaked throughout the Second District as the Heartless hit the ground like the giant falling out of Jack's beanstalk. "I'll keep up the heat on its heels while you get to the head and ditch the helmet!" Axel instructed. He charged towards the Heartless's gargantuan feet, snapping his fingers and setting the area around his chakrams ablaze.

"Got it!" Sliding clear from the beast's thrashing claws, Sora hopped atop the benches to reach the district's upper level. He ran unobstructed towards the Gizmo Shop where the beast's head had crashed just in front of the shop. Back on the ground level, he maneuvered around ivory horns until he reached the side of the helmet. With Keyblade in hand, he jammed the key full-forced into the gap between the beast's scales and the rusted metal, pulling his hardest to pry away the helmet. But it wouldn't budge an inch. Sora tried again and again, but all his efforts failed. "This is jammed on pretty tight… How am I supposed to take it off?"

Though Axel's relentless assault kept the Heartless under a steady stream of pain, the attempts to wedge its helmet free caught its attention. Its yellow eyes rolled over and fell on Sora. Through all its pain, it let out an irritable grunt through its nostrils and the wind smacked Sora off his feet. He sat up with brows furrowed and gripped the Keyblade even tighter. "I won't give up!" He hopped back to his feet and rushed back towards the helmet. Again the beast grunted and again Sora went flying across the street.

"How's it coming, kid?" Axel shouted over the Heartless's wails.

Sora lifted himself back up and charged forward once more. "I'm working on it!"

"Well, work on it a bit faster! My ears are killing me!" Axel snapped his fingers twice more to increase the intensity of the fire feasting along each heel. Sweat drenched his clothes and dripped from his glistening face, though not caused by the intensity of the flames. He hunched over, gasping deep breaths of air and slowly lifted his hand to cup the upper left portion of his chest. "Not just my ears…" Black spots dotted along his blurring vision and he wondered how much longer he could stand. But he believed in Sora; he knew the kid would pull through. He always did.

Another burst of air pushed Sora away, but this time he didn't get knocked into the wall without gaining something in return. "That's it!" he exclaimed, regaining his posture and charging back for another round. However, instead of aiming for the helmet, Sora veered further down and thrust his Keyblade straight into the Heartless's nostril. "Coochy-coo!" He wiggled it around a bit, taking note of the beast's discomfort and strained breathing. It opened its mouth, taking in two deep, choppy breaths before sneezing. Mucus exploded from its nostrils, ejecting the snot-covered Keyblade back into its wielder's hands. At the same time, the Heartless's head jerked downward, while the upwards sneezing force sent the helmet flying clear off its head and smacking against the shop where it ricocheted far beyond its reach.

"I did it!" shouted Sora. He didn't delay in striking the newly exposed red crystal inset within the Heartless's forehead. The Keyblade swung down on its target and cracked it, causing an explosion of blinding light to erupt from the crystal. More howls of deafening agony bellowed from the beast before it disintegrated into a pool of dark muck.

"We won!" Sora smiled victoriously, though when he realized Heartless snots covered his hands, he scrunched his face and waved his wrists to flick the gunk off them. "Ha, ha! We did a good job, don't you think—huh? Where did—hey!" Sora rushed over to Axel, who was kneeling down with his arms wrapped around his chest.

"Heh…good job, kid," he sputtered between pants.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked, his eyes wide with worry.

Axel feebly shook his head. "I'll…be fine. Just need…to rest… Haven't stopped…fighting all day…and…" He let his words hang as he looked up at Sora. Neglecting the rapid thumping in his ears and the weariness threatening to knock him unconscious, he mustered all his remaining energy to grab Sora and twist him around, shielding him with his body as a sharp talon lodged itself into his back.

The ferocious monster of a Heartless rose from its murky pond of darkness. No longer covered in scales, it resembled a pile of sludge moreso than a dinosaur, but its claws didn't lose their razor-edge. Reluctant to go down without at least one prize, it resurrected itself long enough to launch one more attack.

Frozen by shock and fright, Sora didn't understand what happened at first. Everything moved so fast that it made him dizzy to piece together. But as he watched the man who protected him cry out in pain and felt the man's protective arms fall limp at his sides, a newfound righteous strength boiled over in his veins. Sora launched himself passed Axel and struck his Keyblade into the heart of the muddied creature, earning another screech of agony from its bubbling pool of darkness. Streams of light broke through the darkness, but the claw remained still lodged within Axel. Sora struck the pool again and again, with each blow intensifying the light streams until the sludge Heartless exploded and a large, red heart floated up into the sky.

He waited until he was certain the monster would not return before spinning around and sliding back to kneel near Axel. "You're hurt!" he said with deep concern. Axel didn't reply. Lying on his side with his eyes closed, his chest heaved up and down in sporadic bursts. Letting the Keyblade fall from his fingers, Sora left it abandoned on the ground while his hands fished through his pockets. "It's here somewhere…Aha!" He pulled a small, green bottle from his jacket pocket and yanked out the cork. "This should help…" Tilting the bottle, he let the clear liquid inside splash over the gaping wound on Axel's back.

Within seconds, the wound healed itself and Axel's breathing returned to normal. He groaned as he opened his eyes, rubbing his head and sitting up to blink away the foggy haze. "Did someone…get the number of the bus…?"

"That was close!"

"Huh…?" Axel blinked again, craning his neck to gaze at Sora. "You're…" He paused to blink once more, this time longer.

"Are you feeling better?" Sora asked. "That Hi-potion should've fixed everything."

"Hi-potion…?" Axel echoed. "You gave me a potion?"

Sora nodded. "You were hurt pretty bad. That monster didn't know when to quit! I would've been a goner if you hadn't shielded me. Thank you."

"Ha, tit for tat, I guess. I save you and you save me." Axel let out a small chuckle. "Thanks, So—err…so uh, you got a name, kid?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. I'm Sora," he replied with a smile.

"The name's Axel, Sora. You might want to commit it to memory." Axel tapped the side of his head with a smirk. "Heh, I'm lucky you had that potion on you."

"Yeah… My friend gave it to me before…" Sora looked away, gazing over the town in silence.

"Before what? What's wrong?"

"This…is another world, isn't it…?"

"I take it you're not from Traverse Town?" Axel asked, taking on the role of oblivious bystander.

Sora shook his head, now looking at Axel again. "My home is on Destiny Island. Something…really strange happened tonight. These weird creatures were everywhere and the whole place went dark! Then this huge, black thing came up and attacked me—one almost as big as that monster we just fought."

"Sounds like your world was invaded by the Heartless," Axel replied thoughtfully.

"_The Heartless?_"

"Yup." Axel pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself clean of Heartless ashes. "Let's get to a safer place and then we'll talk. Chances are we'll get ambushed again if we sit here out in the open and play twenty questions." He extended his hand to Sora. "What do you say?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Sora said, taking the hand. He picked the Keyblade up from the ground and headed for the First District with Axel.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

With skin paler than his computer's flickering backlight and eyes rounder than the moon, Roger pushed from his chair grabbing the still-hot documents from out of the printer and dashed upstairs into the Gizmo Shop proper. His sweaty palms smudged some of the papers' fresh ink as he clutched them tight enough to crinkle the first few pages. Everything Axel suggested of the Outer Rim Blockade proved hauntingly true, but he missed one important detail—one so dire that it threatened the world's very stability. As he threw himself out the shop's back entrance and jumped off the ledge onto the street below, Roger worried that he was already too late.

Meanwhile, the skies above Traverse Town continued to glow with the thousands of fiery lights outshining the world's familiar constellations. When the denizens of the town gazed out their windows to take in the new vista, the fear of shadows no longer prevailed in their hearts. A new threat now surrounded their home, and this time, the people knew Lady Luck wouldn't deal another hand of mercy. If Traverse Town fell, so would its cosmopolitan community.

Hovering just miles from the town's atmosphere, Captain Hook's ship headed the armada of Heartless warships, cruisers, and strikers surrounding the defenseless world. Engines hummed in eager anticipation to kick back into gear and thrust into the town with guns ablazing. All awaited orders from their captain, twitching their restless claws along dashboards and joysticks in final preparation for the assault.

However, aboard their captain's ship, first mate Smee shivered what he prayed weren't his last timbers. When news of the colossal Heartless's defeat reached the ship, no excuse in the book could suffice to quell Captain Hook's wrath. The neat stacks of parchment on his desk lay in shreds on the floor; the goose feathers from his fine, silk pillows fluttered through the air; the shelf holding all his literature toppled over into a pile of splitters and trampled books. The captain's rampage unleashed horrors upon his quarters, but it reserved the brunt of its malicious fury for the roly-poly henchman who failed to acquire the Keyblade.

"N-n-now, Captain!" Smee stuttered, rolling out into the hallway and ducking for cover behind several kegs of rum. "Let's not be too hasty!"

"Blast that scurvy scalawag!" Hook roared, swinging his cutlass clear through all the kegs and flooding the corridor with rum.

"If you'll just mind your temper, Captain, we can still fix this!" Scrambling for his life, Smee dodged another strike from the cutlass and scampered away on all fours. But the soaked floors provided little friction and he found himself sliding backwards towards a full _Ars Arcanum_ in progress. In desperation, Smee dug his nails into the dampened wood to claw his way to safety, occasionally using his teeth as further leverage.

"Tell me, Smee!" the enraged captain howled, taking a swipe at Smee's behind and slashing his pants to expose his polka dotted underwear. "Tell me how a filthy bilge rat could fell a Heartless large enough to send Davy Jones to his own accursed locker?"

Jumping up from the sharp pricks of pain to his rear, Smee crashed his head into the ceiling. "Please, Captain!" the first mate cried while caressing his new lumps. "The longer you throw this tantrum of yours, the more time the Keybearer has to get away!"

"Shut up and—oh." Captain Hook dropped his cutlass-wielding hand. His once purple complexion twisted with rage faded into a light red hue of embarrassment. "Mr. Smee!" he ordered, standing tall with authoritative dignity.

Smee saluted and stood at attention. "Captain!"

"Go down to the world and throw a noose 'round the brat's neck. Haul him along to me quarters where he'll learn the meaning of _keelhaul _the hard way!"

"Aye, aye, Captain Hook!" After giving another salute, Smee charged off for his own quarters to slip into a mended pair of pants before heading down into the holds to collect his strike force of Heartless.

While Smee rounded together Neoshadows and pirates to take into town, Captain Hook paid a rare visit to the command post. Too frightened by Maleficent's threats to worry about entering a room crammed with wall-to-wall Heartless, he held fast onto his commanding aura. Posture straight, shoulders back, and hat furnished with a fresh feather, Captain Hook took the center stage and gave the one order he knew would rid him of all his troubles. "_Ready the Noventa Cannon!_"

* * *

Walking side-by-side with Sora through the doorway leading into the First District, Axel watched as the kid's expression went from disorientation to deep fascination and total awe. The lights, sounds, and smells of Traverse Town overwhelmed the islander. Neon signs, lampposts, and inextinguishable magic candles; buzzing of electrical wires, cooing of pigeons, and reverberation of hundreds of voices speaking all at once; greasy pizza, barbequed burgers, and fresh brewed coffee—nothing made sense. Where was the cool, salty breeze; the lush, green vegetation; the aroma of sweet and sour fruits; the relaxing rush of tides hitting the shore? Concrete, brick, and steel replaced water, sand, and wood.

It hit him then, shifting his gaze from one foreign sight to the other—he was in _another world_. This time, a bonk to the head wouldn't wake him from the dream. The shadows, the monster, the darkness—it all really happened and now Sora wandered the cobbled walkways of a strange, new town filled with new people and a new way of life. But as he stood with the burgeoning desire to run out and explore every corner of the world, the weight of reality came crashing down on his shoulders. Once staring wide-eyed with childlike wonder at the scene around him, Sora now hunched over as though to clutch at a newfound pain rising from his abdomen.

"You alright?" Axel asked, worried that the kid hurt himself in the last fight.

"Yeah…" Sora nodded. "It's just…a lot to take in at once."

"I bet it is, though I never figured it'd make a tough kid like you seasick."

Sora exhaled, closing his eyes for several seconds before opening them to face reality head-on. "I'm worried about my friends."

"The ones you mentioned before?"

"I have two friends named Riku and Kairi," he said, now looking up at Axel. "Have you seen them?"

"Can't say I have," Axel replied with a shrug and continued to walk towards the Accessory Shop.

"Are you sure?" Sora pressed.

"Hey, I'm a new guy on the block same as you, kid. I'm sure I haven't seen your friends in the two hours I've been here."

"Oh…" With a sullen sigh, Sora ran to catch up with Axel. "So where are we going?"

"A safe place to talk, remember?"

"I know, but where?"

"Here," Axel said now standing in front of the shop.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "A jewelry store?"

"Well, I'd say to chat at the café, but talking through a mouthful of burgers and fries isn't a productive way to hold a conversation." Axel pulled open the door and held it for his companion. "After you."

Inside, Cid maintained his post behind the green counter working on shining the last bracelet from the box at his feet. "Welcome to the store!" he said, giving the accessory one last rub with his cloth before turning to look at his potential customer. "What can I do for—aww, it's only a kid." He set the bracelet down on the counter and gave his nose a quick flick with his thumb. "Scram, kid. I gave all my cookies to the café so if you want any treats, I don't got none."

"I'm not a kid!" Sora snapped, offended by the older man's remarks. "And the name's Sora."

"Okay, okay. Simmer down, why don't you?" Cid rubbed the back of his head. "So why the long face, Sora? You lost or something?"

"He's the town's latest arrival, Cid," Axel said while walking through the door.

"You again? What, you visit the whole town already?"

"Nah. Ran into some trouble."

Cid narrowed his eyes. "What kind of trouble?"

"Leon's kind. He still downstairs?"

"The kids left for their place in the Third District," Cid said with a flick of his nose. "What's this about, Axel? It have anything to do with all those tremors and explosions earlier?"

"I'll tell you later." Axel turned again for the door. "Sora, let's go."

"I thought we were going to talk here?"

"Change of plans. Time for some sight-seeing in the Third."

"But…" Sora hesitated, taking a quick glance between Axel and Cid.

"What's the problem?" Axel asked, halfway through the door.

"I want to look for my friends first. They might be in trouble!"

"Sora, trust me—they're not in trouble."

"How do you know?"

"Common sense. We just fried the toughest thing in town, ergo everyone's safe for the time being," Axel reasoned, though he omitted the fact that Kairi was a lifeless zombie floating in outer space and that Riku had leased his services to the villains operating several worlds next door. "Now let's go."

Sora shook his head. "Sorry, Axel. But I have to make sure. Their safety is more important than my confusion."

Axel watched as Sora's brows furrow together in determination. Standing firm with conviction, the kid already decided his next course of action and nothing would change his mind. Though he wanted to get the ball rolling as fast as possible, Axel knew when to relent. Nothing upset Sora more than the thought of his friends in peril, and it actually gave Axel some relief knowing that particular feeling ran so strong with the kid even at the advent of his journey.

"Alright, then," Axel said with a sigh. "I'll go get the know-it-alls while you check around for your friends. Just try not wander too far and attract a horde of monsters."

"I'll be careful," Sora assured him.

"Don't know what the heck's goin' on, but I'll look out for the kid," Cid added.

Axel smirked. "Just don't feed him any cookies."

"Heh, I'll save them all for you."

"I'm fasting. Catch you later!"

Sora watched Axel duck out the door and then turned his attention to Cid. "Hey, Cid? Have you seen my two friends? One's a boy named Riku and the other's a girl named Kairi."

"Riku and Kairi, eh?" Cid rubbed the back of his head in contemplation. "Nope, can't recall either of those names. Last two kids your age to come through here were named Jack and Jill. Told 'em not to go up that hill while construction was still going on, but they just wouldn't listen… Poor kids." He paused for a moment to reflect on the grim memory and then turned to place the polished bracelet in his hand into its display case. "Anyway, why don't you take a look 'round town? They're bound to be somewhere. If you run into any trouble, don't worry. You just come to me and I'll look out for you."

"Thanks," Sora said with a small smile. "I will." He then left the shop and paused just atop the steps leading down into the First District's plaza. Various people traversed the streets, occupied benches, and waited for seating at the local café, but none of them matched the appearance of his two best friends. But despite that, Sora refused to throw in the towel. He set off into the heart of the plaza determined to give the whole district a keen, thorough sweep.

* * *

"The Order of Thanatos," Leon began, hands shuffling through the various papers on the table, "is a group composed of the most vile, conniving, cutthroat abominations in all the worlds. Their leader is a witch named Maleficent who wields powerful magic and commands the legions of Heartless invading and ransacking all the worlds in space." He paused for a moment to thumb through a particular packet before handing it over to Donald and Goofy.

Everyone in the Resistance sat around the table in the Third District's secret base to brief the King's men on the Order's recent activities. The soundproofing technology implemented into the building's structure in order to prevent eavesdropping served as a double-edged sword in that it also prevented the Resistance to hear the thunderous turmoil resulting from the Heartless raid. The group continued to converse unawares of the catastrophic rampage waged by the colossal Heartless and the efforts of the two heroes to vanquish their prehistoric foe.

After flipping through the packet and familiarizing themselves with photographs of Maleficent and her Heartless army, Donald and Goofy set it back down and continued to listen.

"Maleficent first came to power eight years ago when she led an assault on Hollow Bastion and overthrew our leader, Ansem the Wise," Leon continued. "Utilizing the complex technology and computer network housed in the castle, she gained full control over a special lab experiment that allowed for mass creation of Heartless in a record amount of time."

"Gawrsh!" Goofy exclaimed. "Why did Ansem have something like that in his castle?"

Aerith shook her head. "Many of the events that transpired that night remain a mystery to us," she explained. "Ansem was respected as a scientist who helped revolutionize life in Hollow Bastion. However, no one knew the full extent of his experimentation."

"They say there are secret laboratories hidden beneath the secret laboratories in that place," Zack added. "Of course, double the secret means double the trouble when it comes to world-crushing equipment."

"It's all just speculation regardless of how you look at it," Leon said, folding his arms. "All our intel on that subject's come from third and fourth parties, so we take it with a grain of salt."

"Then how do you know it was Ansem who built the stuff responsible for the Heartless?" Donald asked.

"We don't," came Leon's curt reply.

"All we know is the equipment was there before Maleficent came crashing through the door," said Yuffie. "And since Ansem was the head honcho with access to the most secret of secrets, we're using him as a placeholder 'til some new info comes our way."

"Anyway, to continue, Maleficent wasted no time in conjuring up an army to clear out her new living space," said Zack. "She made short work of the townspeople since each Heartless she spawned ran amuck and stole the hearts of everyone in sight, causing more Heartless to join their ranks."

"When the raids started, people fled for their lives. Most didn't survive, and the ones who stayed behind to fight…they soon found themselves batting for the other side." Leon reclined into his chair, closing his eyes and tilting up his head towards the ceiling. Screams echoed in his ears causing his shoulders to tense, but a supportive hand came to rest on him, quelling the screams until they faded back into the dark shadows of his heart. "A whole world devoid of people—perfect place to set up a fortress," he said, opening his eyes to give Aerith a sideward glance as a silent "I hate being touched". Without a word, she removed her hand from his shoulder, slipping it down to the table to sift through the papers.

"This is the world's current state of affairs as photographed by a satellite." Aerith took one of the papers and handed it to the King's men.

Goofy gasped at the sight, slapping both of his gloved hands over his mouth in horror. "That's terrible!" he cried.

"And I thought Monstro's bowels were in bad shape…" Jiminy gaped, peering at the photo from his spot in Goofy's hat.

Donald's beak twisted and curved in ways he never deemed possible. "She did all _this?_" The sheer disgust he felt towards Maleficent reached a level so high, his feathers started to molt. "Let me at that witch! I'll teach her a thing or two about proper town décor!" He flailed his arms up and down, the paper slipping out of his hand and fluttering back onto the table.

"Like I said: perfect place for a fortress," Leon repeated, shifting in his seat.

"The castle on Hollow Bastion is the Order's base of operations. Unfortunately, we don't have anymore information on it at this time," said Aerith.

"What's their angle?" Donald asked. "What are they after?"

"So far, all we know is they're traveling across space messing around with the cores of untainted worlds," Zack replied, unfolding one of the larger documents to reveal a map of all space. "As you can see, they've branched out and claimed all the worlds surrounding Hollow Bastion." He tapped his pointer finger against four points on the map and then dragged it along a straight path to the following cluster of worlds. "Our guess is they're trying to conquer every world among the stars."

"A whole universe of darkness…" Goofy uttered, training his eyes along the map.

"Oh, it's worse than that," Yuffie added. "Each time a world falls, a whole battalion of Heartless is added to Maleficent's army."

"Gawrsh, that means…"

"It means they're planning something far more diabolical," Leon interjected.

Jiminy rubbed his chin in contemplation. "What are your thoughts on that, Leon?"

"I don't care about their plans," he stated. "I won't let things get so far out of hand that I'll need to know what their ultimate goal is. The function of the Resistance is to stop the Order of Thanatos dead in its tracks as soon as possible."

"And, uh, your plan for that is…?"

"The Keyblade."

"That's right! The 'Key'!" Donald exclaimed. "The King wanted us to find that."

"What _is_ the Keyblade, anyway?" Goofy asked.

"The one thing the Heartless fear most," Leon replied. "The wielder of the Keyblade can take on entire armies of Heartless and come out the victor."

"Gawrsh, really?"

"Acquiring the Keyblade is the first step in the plan." Aerith picked up another document, giving the contents a quick once-over before handing it to Goofy. "This is a list of worlds we've tagged as points of interest. We don't have the proper materials to conduct an adequate investigation, which is why we need the Keyblade master."

"What's so interesting about these backwater dumps?" Donald asked while giving each profile picture the eye.

"Members of the Order have paid multiple visits to those worlds, but haven't made a move to destroy them," Zack replied. "It's real fishy behavior, don't you think?"

Goofy scratched his head. "Hrm…that _does_ sound fishy."

"So, you want us to find the Keyblade and then head to each one of these worlds," Donald reiterated.

Yuffie gave an enthusiastic nod. "Yup! Sure would help us out if you did!"

"The King was the one who suggested the Keyblade master's involvement," Aerith added. "He believed only the Keyblade could reveal the truth of the Order's fascination with each world."

"That's good enough for me!" Donald quacked. "If King Mickey said we need to drag that Key all around these places, then we'll do it! Right, Goofy?"

Goofy gave a quick salute. "Ayup! Anywhere the King orders me to go, I'll go! Anyone the King orders me to follow, I'll follow! Anytime the King orders me to fight, I'll fight! I'll give it my all, no questions asked!"

"Here, here!"

Zack rubbed the back of his neck. "Now that's inspiring loyalty for you…"

"That's phase one of our plan," Leon stated, pushing from his chair and getting to his feet. "We'll talk more about the second phase after you've found the Keyblade. But before you go, I need to grab a transmitter gummi and ask Cid to install it onto your ship. It'll broaden the range of your radio so you can keep in contact with us."

"Sounds like a plan, ahyuck!" Goofy nodded.

Giving a nod to his team, Leon left the base and headed for the Second District.

* * *

Roger stumbled into the Accessory Shop gaping like a fish out of water. Sweat of both fatigue and fright poured from his pale-white forehead as he staggered over towards Cid and collapsed onto the counter.

"What the _heck_, Roger? You drop your pipe in the water main again?" Cid asked with a flick of his nose. "Told you to kick the habit, but you just wouldn't listen…" He bent down to pick a pitcher of water from under the counter and poured Roger a glass.

"…'Venta!" Roger blurted, smacking away the glass as he forced himself back to his feet.

Cid raised an eyebrow. "Eh?"

"'Venta…!" he repeated with more urgency, this time shoving the crumpled paperwork gripped in his hand towards Cid.

Cid eyed the papers and then eyed Roger. "The heck's wrong with you, boy?" He took the papers, flattening them out on the counter before giving them the once-over. All the while, Roger continued to heave and pant in hopes of catching his breath. In a matter of seconds, Cid's jaw unhinged and he dropped the glass of water.

"…_Noventa Cannon_." Roger said coherently, now looking Cid dead in his saucer-like eyes.

At that moment, all words failed Cid Highwind as his brain shifted into overdrive in search of a solution to the life or death situation.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

They noticed it—all three of them—as he turned for the door with that straight-lined frown. Blood vessels bulged across his bare arms from the intensity in which he clenched his fists, and his forehead wrinkled along all the familiar creases associated with his internal plights. Leon, they knew, was a silent warrior. He waged all his greatest battles within his heart, asking help from no one and taking every step to hide his pain. But they knew. His friends knew when something went amiss in that tangled up mess for a conscience of his, one that always made sure to emphasize the negatives more so than the positives.

Even with help from King Mickey's men, Leon doubted the Keyblade would reveal itself. What difference would it make if Donald and Goofy broadened the search by two men? As he reached for the doorknob, Leon took care not to allow a doubtful sigh escape his lips. He opened the door with a swift yank, stepped outside, and waited for the door to click shut before bringing a hand up to massage his forehead. How ridiculous to think that Donald and Goofy would triumph where the whole of the Resistance failed. Let them search all they wanted, he thought. The importance of their mission lied more with uncovering the truth behind the Order of Thanatos's fascination with a certain collection of worlds than it did with the Keyblade.

Though he ceased to massage his head, doubts continued to throb throughout Leon's conscience. He let his hand drop, but instead of returning to his side, it hovered across his chest in a hesitant and awkward position. His eyes darted to the side, narrowing as he tried to focus them on a particular object without turning his head. Something cloaked in the shadows monitored his movement, causing an eerie chill to run down his spine. His hand finally dropped as he set his eyes to focus forward and walked towards the Second District's doors. Whatever spied on Leon with its piercing gaze, the warrior's honed instincts told him to avoid battle. Striking at the entity would result in drastic consequences he knew, so he chose to walk away instead.

Waiting several minutes to ensure their leader's departure from the district, Aerith, Yuffie, and Zack exchanged worried glances.

"Gawrsh, what's wrong, fellas?" Goofy asked, puzzled by the awkward silence.

"We're worried about Leon," Zack explained. "I think all this talk about our old home may have upset him."

Yuffie sighed. "More like it's touched on a nerve. He's sure to blow soon, I just know it."

"Shucks, gang…" Goofy rubbed his head, lowering his remorseful eyes. "Didn't mean to make you guys talk about something like that."

"Yeah," Donald nodded.

"Don't worry about it," Zack said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's important for you to know what's going on. Besides, we can't run from the truth. Maleficent and her Heartless are capable of great atrocities if we don't stop them."

Aerith clenched her the fabric of her dress between her fingers. "Yuffie?" she said, turning her head. "You're the stealthiest person here. Could you follow Leon and make sure he's all right? Confrontation will only make things worse."

At the suggestion, Yuffie jumped out of her seat and gave an eager thumbs up. "Finally, some action! I can't stand just sitting around blabbing." She bounced off for the door. "Off into the shadows I go!"

Even with Yuffie's assurance, Aerith continued her meticulous massage of the fabric between her fingers. "Hey, cheer up," said Zack with a pat to her shoulder. "He'll be back with a cool head like always."

Aerith shook her head. "I don't know, Zack. After everything that's happened now with the King, I think the Keyblade is the only thing that will give Leon something to hope for again."

* * *

Axel hummed a merry tune while skipping through the doors leading into the Third District. A sincere smile stretched across his face as he reflected over the first battle he fought side-by-side with the Keyblade master and didn't die! Sure, he came _close_, but Sora managed to save him. His smile grew larger when he thought of all the many more battles he would fight alongside the kid in the near future. As soon as he had a nice, long talk with the informative bunch in the Resistance, he would convey all their knowledge about the happenings of the worlds to Sora and they would be on their way to blast off into the stars.

This time, Axel planned to help Sora in his adventures. He aimed to burn the Heartless, barbeque the evil masterminds, fry the Nobodies, and immolate his former boss. He would be the best pal Sora ever had, trumping those two dum-dums from Disney Castle. Who needed a duckbilled, second-rate magician wielding a termite-infested hunk of wood, or a floppy-eared doofus who swung around an oversized dinner plate? Not Sora, no way. Fire and Chakrams went well together with the Keyblade, creating the best possible combination in Axel's mind.

But fighting would comprise only a small part of their adventure together. Axel looked forward most of all to the days where they'd chill out on the beach building sand castles, go skiing down some frigid slopes, hike up a mountain trail to take in the panoramic vistas at the peak, and of course, eat ice cream while gazing out at the sunset. Like a kid eager to go on vacation with his best friend, Axel fantasized about all the good times he'd enjoy with his best pal. In this life, not only did Axel plan to do things right, but he also planned to live the life he had been denied all those years as a Nobody.

Upon entering the district, Axel caught sight of Yuffie rushing out one of various dilapidated buildings, pausing by the Second District doors to creak them open enough to stick her head through, and then tiptoeing past them while shutting them without a sound. Despite her perplexing behavior, Yuffie did manage to pinpoint which building the Resistance used for a hideout. Thinking of her as an odd duck from the get-go, Axel paid little mind towards her antics and walked towards the house without a second thought. As he knocked on the door, however, a familiar feeling of anxiety prickled along his skin. Someone—or something—had its eyes glued on him. Before he could scope the area, Zack opened the door.

"Hey, it's Axel!" he exclaimed, giving his newfound pal an amiable slap on the shoulder. Axel winced at the gesture, not at all thrilled with Zack's chummy attitude. "What brings you out here? Still sightseeing?"

"No, I'm going door-to-door selling cookies to fund my way off this world," Axel spouted with sarcasm.

Zack rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Axel. I can't fly you out just yet."

"Not a problem. Been looking for you guys. I have some news you'll be _very _interested to hear."

"Is that right? Why don't you come in, then? We're on break 'til the boss gets back anyway." Zack slid to the side and let Axel enter before closing the door.

The plan was simple: tell the Resistance about Sora and the Keyblade, get them to dish out the mission agenda, procure a ship from Cid to carry out the agenda, and then let the good times roll! Though that whole notion of a plan crumbled to itty-bitty pieces when Axel stepped into the hideout and gained the true view of the happenings within the decrepit house. Sitting at the round table in the dead center of the joint were the last two people he ever wanted to see. Two pesky thorns lodged into his side, two meddlesome wrenches thrown into his premium gears, two rusted nails shoved into his feet—call them by any other name, the bottom line was they didn't factor into the Axel-and-Sora-only plan.

"Oh, hey! Let me introduce you guys," Zack said, shuffling over towards the table to fix himself smack in back of Donald and Goofy. He placed a hand on either one of them and introduced them to Axel. "They're here all the way from Disney Castle to lend us a hand. Isn't that great?"

"Simply wonderful," Axel drawled.

Goofy gave a small wave. "Nice to meet ya, ahyuck!"

"Anyone smell burnt lizard?" Donald asked while giving the air a good whiff and glaring in Axel's direction.

"Don't forget me!" said Jiminy bouncing out of his resting spot. "Cricket's the name—Jiminy Cricket at your service."

The cricket was there, too? Simply wonderful _indeed_…

Axel crossed his arms, throwing on an insincere smile to buy him some time. While giving his name with the usual endearing catchphrase attached, his mind turned its gears in the opposite direction. He devised a new plan on the spot, scrapping the old idea altogether and focusing on a new goal: to smuggle Sora off Traverse Town without anyone knowing or learning of his unique status.

"So Axel, what news did you want to tell us?" Zack asked, taking his seat next to Aerith and motioning for his new buddy to grab a chair.

But Axel preferred to stand. "Oh, that. Yeah." He shifted his weight and cleared his throat. "I managed to take down a giant Heartless in the Second."

Aerith clasped her hand over her mouth. "My goodness! Are you hurt?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Wow, Axel! I didn't know you could fight!" Zack exclaimed.

Axel shrugged. "I can hold my own in a fight. No big deal."

"So how giant is 'giant'?"

"Let me put it this way: it was large enough to lick the clock above the Gizmo shop while standing in the middle of the plaza."

"That _is_ huge…and unusual."

"Axel, did you manage to defeat _all_ the Heartless in that area?" Aerith inquired, her fingers pressing harder into the fabric against her lap.

Axel raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

"Leon and Yuffie just went into the Second District…"

"Hey, I cleaned house. They won't find even a spec of darkness in that place."

"I hope so…"

Zack looked from Aerith to Axel. "So, you thinking of joining us, then? Is that why you're boasting about your feat?"

Axel smirked. "Heh, I'm _boasting_ because I can tune a Heartless's violin better than you Resistance guys. Whole district would've been toast without me, so I propose you award me something for my efforts."

"Well…we're not accustomed to doing that, but this _is_ the first time we've gotten outside help. What did you have in mind?"

"My own ship out of here."

"I see…" Zack crossed his arms, tilting his head down in contemplation. "I can understand why you'd want that and I doubt I'll be leaving town for a while, so…hrm…"

"Maybe you can ask Cid to lend him one of our spare cruisers," Aerith suggested.

"Yeah, I was just thinking that."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Donald interrupted, giving Axel the eye. "How do you know that guy's telling the truth?" Something was strange about that man, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Huh? What reason would Axel have to lie?"

"Who knows? But none of _us_ heard any of this so-called 'fight' going on. If that Heartless thing was so large, we should've at least heard its giant feet stomping all over the place!"

Axel's smirk fell. "Watch it, duck."

"Well, our base is soundproof," Zack explained. "It's padded so that people can't eavesdrop on us, but at the same time, we can't hear anything going on outside our own door."

That information did little to shake Donald's suspicion. "Is that so?" he grumbled unconvinced, leaning forward to glare at Axel with heated eyes.

Goofy patted his buddy on the shoulder. "Now, now, Donald. What's got your feathers all ruffled? Axel's just stranded here and is trying to find a way out by helping to earn his ticket offworld, isn't that right?"

For once, Axel found the optimistic banter spouted by Goofy rather useful. "You guessed it."

Donald continued leering at Axel. "How'd you fight it?"

To that, Axel cracked a wide, crafty smile. "I _burned_ it to a _crisp_."

"Phooey!" Donald jumped from his seat in outrage, pounding his hand on the table. "I knew it! You're one of _them!_"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "One of who?"

"Gawrsh, Donald!" Goofy exclaimed. "You don't mean…?"

"I do!" Donald extended an accusatory finger at Axel. "He's one of the warlock's disciples!"

"_Warlock_…?" Axel clamped his teeth together tight so as not to burst into laughter, but let loose anyway since the goofball duck's sincere, alarmist conviction tickled his funny bone like nothing else. Throwing back his head and clutching his gut with both hands, Axel let out a wild bout of laughter that unnerved the duck.

"What's so funny?" Donald demanded.

"Your logic," Axel sputtered between laughs.

"Oh yeah?! Why I oughta…!" Donald rolled up his sleeves and hunched over, stalking his way towards the hysterical fire-wielder.

Axel wiped a tear from his eye and composed himself. "Want to start something, duck? Let's go!" He snapped his fingers, igniting his hand. Flames swirled around his digits until they compressed into a fireball hovering above his palm.

"Lousy warlock! I'll show you!" Donald raised his staff uttering a short incantation that summoned forth his own ball of flame.

Their eyes locked as they stood at a standstill, each waiting for the other to make a move. Neither motioned to throw in the towel or raise a white flag. The friction between them sparked an inner loathing for the other's mere presence. Axel couldn't stand the duck with all his annoying quacking and his sub-par fire magicks that couldn't even toast a breadcrumb. Donald on the other hand felt both threatened by whom he deemed a disciple of the mysterious _warlock_ and agitated by the man's cocky personality. In short, they hated each other's guts and nothing aside from an old-fashioned magic brawl would set their minds at ease.

"Hey, now! Stop that, you two!" Zack muscled his way between the two hotheads and cooled the atmosphere. "We're all friends here, aren't we?"

"Speak for yourself!" Donald quacked.

"Donald, you should be ashamed!" Goofy reprimanded him, yanking the staff out of Donald's hands and extinguishing the flame.

"But…but!"

Goofy frowned. "No buts, mister!"

"Aww phooey!" Donald's shoulders dropped.

"As for you, Axel…" Aerith poured a glass of ice, cold water over his enflamed hand. "Please learn to control yourself. Friends don't attack each other. If there's a misunderstanding, we sit down and talk things through."

Axel gave a dismissive wave of his dampened hand, flicking water droplets intentionally in Donald's direction. "Yeah, yeah. Cornucopia of love and all that. Look, I can't help it when I'm being accused of doing the dirty work for some half-baked warlock I've never heard of."

"Sorry about that," Goofy apologized in his best friend's stead. "Donald gets a little touchy when he meets other magic users. I don't think you're one of the warlock's guys, though. Their fire's usually green."

"Oh yeah? And what about my taking down the Heartless?"

"We believe your story," said Zack.

"I don't!" Donald snapped.

"_We do_ believe you," Zack reaffirmed, sending a disapproving glance towards Donald. "It's what friends do."

Donald was about to say something to the effect of "warlocks don't have any friends" but Goofy slapped him on the back. "Hey! What's the big idea?" Goofy just shrugged and continued listening.

"Well, I'm _flattered_ to be considered your _friend_," Axel drawled. "So how about hooking up your new _friend_ with a ship out of here?"

Zack gave a nod. "I can try asking Cid if he can spare a ship for the time being. Though, if you don't mind my asking, where are you planning to go? Traverse Town's statistically the safest place to be right now since we're all here keeping the Heartless at bay. Can't guarantee the other worlds will be like that."

"I'm still in the market for an island getaway," Axel lied.

"Okay, if that's what you want…"

"Though, before I go, tell me what you can about the Heartless."

Zack rubbed the back of his head. "How come?"

"Precautionary measure. If I get to an island that's nice and Heartless-free, I'll want to keep it that way." Of course, the real reason Axel wanted to learn more information about the Heartless was to get an understanding of the new universe and then relay everything to Sora.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want to join the Resistance?" Zack asked.

"Positive. Now tell me everything you know."

* * *

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

I remember the first time I met Donald Duck. I wanted to set him on fire and lock him in an oven for three hours. Envy's best served when sautéed in rage and seasoned with the best spice of them all—_revenge_. Why did I want revenge? Heh, that's a funny story that takes me back farther than I'd like to remember. But you know what? The memory's still there and I'll never be rid of it until I die—which, by your count, is soon enough anyway.

It wasn't just Donald, but Goofy, too. I wanted to get them both, believing they had stolen something from me. No, I don't mean Sora per se. I blamed them since I couldn't point the finger at anyone else—not even Xemnas, though I tried. Donald and Goofy were the best punching bags for my blame and anger because they got to live the life I always wanted. They were the ones zooming all over space with Sora; creating all those fun, awesome memories; sharing all those heartfelt moments; going on numerous adventures with their best bud. Heck, Donald even got to eat sea salt ice cream! Maybe that's why I resented him a little more than I did Goofy.

As for me—what did I get? None of that, that's for sure. After Sora awoke from his yearlong beauty rest, I became the Organization's public enemy #1 and all the Nobodies in all the worlds dropped everything just to gut me alive. Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy woke up same as Sora, and the way I heard it, they jumped into one, big group hug, laughing, crying, and even dancing! Not for me, though. Only dancing I did was on the graves of any Dusks stupid enough to come at me.

I despised Donald and Goofy for that…but those feelings amounted to nothing. Hating them didn't help me recover my humanity or get me the life I desired. But I didn't see that back then. All I could think about was getting revenge and making their lives hell by pushing all the wrong buttons. I wanted to keep Sora to myself because I believed that would make me happy, and I did everything in my power to see that those three would never meet.

But you know what, you armored punks? You think I care about any of that now? It's all over and done with. None of that's important anymore because it's so far in the past that it's overshadowed by everything else.

* * *

While walking through the deserted streets of the Second District, the still-fresh stench of battle greeted Leon as he passed the Gizmo Shop on his way to the hotel. He paused to look out over the plaza and ponder over the Heartless that attacked and the one who stopped their assault. No civilian ever dared to confront the Heartless, so who not already amongst the Resistance's would step up to oppose them now? Surveying the area, he saw no one. Nothing but ash and the fading smell of fire remained from the fight. The identity of the one who helped protect the district took a back seat in Leon's mind as he resolved to look into the matter later in the day. In the meantime, he continued into the hotel to retrieve the parts necessary for Cid to upgrade Donald's ship.

Inside the hotel, Leon slid his keycard into the lock and entered the Green Room. A small safety box hidden under the bed contained an array of various specialized gummi blocks the team held for emergencies. He yanked the metal box out, lifting it to rest on the table where he inputted the seven-digit code to unlock the clamps. After setting the lid open, however, he did little more than stare at the blocks. A great weight of guilt crashed down onto his shoulders and Leon stumbled back, collapsing on the bed. He couldn't even fight the Heartless in the Second District. What if someone had gotten hurt? What if that anonymous vigilante didn't appear to fend off the flames, spark the flames, or do whatever to stop the Heartless?

And what about the King? He should've stopped Mickey from leaving. If he stalled his departure for an extra hour or an extra day—or if he ordered an extra escort for his Majesty—the King would have avoided the Heartless ambush. In retrospect, the King's voyage would have been unnecessary if Leon had paid more attention to the now-obliterated worlds from that quadrant. Why did he neglect that quadrant? He should've known the Heartless would choose _that _particular area on _that_ particular day!

He blamed himself for every life lost, every Heartless created, every world covered in darkness—for everything. The root of his guilt when traced to the core appeared as one moment, one memory of weakness. The day he failed to save his home was the day he failed to save everyone that would cry for help in the future, and he blamed himself with relentless passion every waking moment of his life.

Gripping the sides of his head, Leon pressed his fingers hard against himself. What hope did he have left when all his efforts did little to aid in the war against the Heartless? Keyblade—what Keyblade? The whole concept was a bedtime story to tell children who lost their home to the darkness! What purpose did the Resistance serve without a Keyblade-like instrument to decimate the Heartless army? They were fighting all alone—_he_ was fighting all alone. No hope, no future, no light. Nothing remained except darkness and solitude.

Or maybe…

Leon dragged his fingers down his cheeks, letting them fall from his face before raising one hand to cup over his shoulder blade. Earlier, Aerith placed her hand over the same spot. Someone else cared, too. They all did. Solitude would never prevail if he could protect the warmth that once passed from her hand to his shoulder and heart. The voices of guilt ceased berating him then as he reclaimed his will to continue the fight. Getting to his feet, Leon grabbed the necessary gummi block from the case and set off for the First District. Even if Donald and Goofy didn't have a prayer finding the mythical Key to the worlds' salvation, Leon swore a new silent oath to match their tenacious determination and keep moving forward against the odds.

* * *

"Let's see… I've checked the post office, the bank, the synthesis shop, and now the café —what's next?"

Sora continued his quest to locate his two best friends amongst the masses of people crowded into the First District. So far, the closest familiar face he managed to pinpoint in the café was that of a boy's who looked like Tidus. But the brown hair fell in sharp contrast with his friend's usual blond, so he left the place dejected.

Walking to his next point of interest just outside of the café, Sora entered the item shop. The second his foot stepped through the door, three little ducks sprung out to greet him in unison with their squeaky, high-pitched voices.

"Welcome to our store! How can we help you?"

"Hi, I'm—"

"Looking for potions and ethers? Well, you've come to the right place!" Huey exclaimed, grabbing Sora's hand and leading him into the shop while his two brothers scurried behind their potential customer and gave him a push.

"Well, no. I'm here to—"

"Check out our latest sales in premium tents and camping equipment?" Dewey interjected, giving Sora one final push in the direction of the cashier's counter. "You've come just in time! Buy your tent now and we'll throw in this Ajax bug zapper absolutely free (while supplies last, batteries not included)!"

"I'm not interested in—"

"Going camping? That's okay! We rent out cottages, too!" Louie said while stuffing Sora's hands full of tourist pamphlets. "Check out the one in that small, provincial town! Waking up in the morning never felt so good when the smell of freshly baked baguettes fills your cottage!"

"You don't understand. I'm looking for—"

"A magic wand?"

"No—"

"A lightweight shield?"

"No—"

"A mallet?"

"No, I—"

"A broom?"

"Would you just—"

"A pail of water?"

"I'm trying to—"

"An enchanted broom to carry your pail of water?"

"Guys, _STOP!_" Sora finally shouted, silencing the three, young entrepreneurs. "Look, I appreciate you trying to sell me things that I might need, but I'm not here to buy anything."

"You're _not?!_" Huey gasped.

"No."

"Well then why are you here?" Dewey demanded.

"I'm looking for my friends Riku and Kairi. Have you seen them?"

Louie paused to think for a moment. "Hmm…the last two kid customers we've had bought that pail of water."

"Only they just missed our Pail & Water Combo Giveaway, so they just got the pail instead," Dewey added.

Huey smacked his fist into his palm. "Oh, right! Now I remember them! But their names sure weren't 'Riku' or 'Kairi'."

Sora's shoulders dropped and he let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh, I see…"

"Sorry we can't help you. But maybe we can give you a 5% discount on your next purchase instead," Dewey offered.

"No, that's okay," Sora said, turning for the door. "I'll just have to go look for them elsewhere. Thanks anyway." As he stepped back out into the district, however, he took immediate notice of the setting change. All the mobs and masses that once collected in front of shops, sat down to eat, and walked along the streets no longer occupied their spaces. The deserted streets that once hummed with the reverberation of mass chatter now howled with a chilly wind. Taking cautious steps, Sora maneuvered his towards the steps leading to the Accessory Shop while keeping close to the brick walls so as not to leave himself exposed. As he edged up the stairs, however, his worst fear manifested itself before his eyes. Dark portals swirled against the cobblestone walkway and shadows popped up to greet him.

"Not you again!" Sora summoned forth the Keyblade just in time to block a shadow's claw attack. He batted it away against the adjacent wall and pivoted his foot to swipe away at the next two shadows lined up for an attack. "What _are_ these things? What do they want with me?" The Heartless against the wall rebounded, flinging itself back at Sora who slashed clean through it. He then followed up with another sweeping attack to the Heartless accumulating at his feet, sheering them to bits where they vanished back into darkness. "Is that all of them?"

"They'll come at you out of nowhere."

"Huh?" Sora jumped and swerved around, holding the Keyblade up in defense. "Who are you?"

"And they'll keep coming at you as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." Leon paused, bringing his hand up to massage his forehead. "But why…? Why did it choose a _kid_ like _you_?"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind. Now, let me see that Keyblade." Leon approached with his arm extended, hand eager to grab the blade from out of Sora's grasp. But his gesture served to toughen the boy's defenses.

Sora gripped the Keyblade tighter, sliding his feet in preparation for attack. "There's _no way_ you're getting this!"

"All right, then have it your way." Not one for words, Leon resolved to let his Gunblade do the talking. The time he spent explaining everything to the little kid would leave them exposed to a follow-up attack. A fight ensured he could pry the Key out of the kid's hands in half the time and spare them the Heartless's wrath.

Sora's eyes flinched when they landed upon the large, sharpened blade jutting out of an oversized revolver, but he refused to let the terse tough guy unnerve him. The second the blade came down, Sora jumped to the side and ran for the plaza. The space between shops didn't provide enough wiggle room for him to both evade and counter. Once out in the open, he dodged another attack—this time a fireball launched from the man's hand! Leon then jumped down from the steps, landing mere inches away from his target and swung his blade. "It's over!"

"Not yet!" Sora ducked to the side and thrust his Keyblade hard into Leon's abdomen. The unexpected attack knocked all the wind out of the man and sent him staggering backwards, but Sora kept up the heat. He sprung back to his full height and sent a follow-up blow across Leon's chest to further stun him in conjunction with a second stab to the gut.

When he went in for a third attack, however, Leon twirled his wrist and met the Keyblade with his own weapon. The Gunblade parried the attack and the impact shocked Sora into a stupor long enough for Leon to retaliate. Jerking one knee forward to support his entire weight, Leon's opposite leg swiped along the ground and tripped Sora. Now vulnerable on his back, Sora watched as Leon's open palm hovered above him accumulating a strange, red glow. "No mercy!" Another fireball exploded from his palm.

Sora closed his eyes while his hands shot up in reflex to shield his face. The Keyblade, now between Sora and the incoming mass of fire, slowed the impact time of the attack long enough for its wielder to twitch his arms and try to bat the harmful flames away out of instinct. The Keyblade thus met the flames full-force and smacked the fireball back at its conjuror, striking him dead in the chest. Leon let out a pain-filled grunt, prompting Sora to bounce back onto his feet and unleash another flurry of attacks.

Strike after strike landed against Leon until the warrior fell to his knees. Sora towered over his assailant, Keyblade in hand and ready to dish out the final blow. However, as he prepared to lift the Keyblade once more, he found it rather heavy and troublesome to balance. After all the battles he fought in such a short span of time combined with all his sightseeing and hunt for his friends, the day's events finally took their toll on Sora. A wave of weariness washed over him and he collapsed from fatigue.

Leon took a moment to catch his breath before hoisting himself to his feet and sheathing his Gunblade.

"Aww, you're slipping, Leon!"

"You followed me?" Leon asked, turning around to glance at Yuffie.

"You know me—I get bored easily," she replied while skipping over to his side. "And hey—finding the legendary Keyblade master is _waaay_ more exciting than idle chit-chat! Heck, it's more exciting than skydiving and rocky mountain climbing! I'd even go so far to say it's more exciting than scoring 2.7 seconds on—"

"Grab the Key," Leon instructed as he walked passed Yuffie with Sora on his shoulders. "And make sure you stay five feet away from the kid. If it resonates with his heart again, we'll get ambushed."

Yuffie pouted. "What's got _you_ so sour? We just found our guiding light! You should be jumping with joy."

"Hurry up."

"_Fine_, Mr. Grumpy." Yuffie picked the Keyblade from off the ground and followed Leon up the stairs. "Hey, the base is in the other direction."

"I sensed a Watcher in the Third," he informed her.

"A _Watcher_? Are you serious?" she gaped. "You didn't attack it, did you?"

"And risk alerting its leaders to our presence?"

"Okay, so…where are we going then?"

"The hotel via the back alley. I don't trust the Second, either." Leon turned down the street in back of the Accessory Shop and headed for a tight area cramped with dumpsters and garbage bags.

"I _did_ see you scope the place out for a bit. You sense one there, too?"

"No, but someone waged a battle there and I'm not sure who."

Yuffie jumped. "You're kidding! You think someone's out to find the Keyblade master as much as we were?"

"We'll figure that out later," Leon grunted as he bent down low enough to fit both himself and Sora through the passage leading into the back alley. "Right now, it's important to deal with this _kid_."

After squatting through the broken, wooden fence and squeezing passed all the supply crates stacked at the exit, Leon managed to haul Sora over to the hotel where he waited for Yuffie to open the door. He rested the unconscious boy on the bed while making sure to keep the Keyblade a large enough distance away so as not to alert the Heartless. They propped it up against the far wall and waited for its master to open his eyes.

* * *

Underneath the Accessory Shop in the secret meeting room, Cid unleashed shout after frantic shout through the transceiver to Dr. Cid, his colleague residing in the Dalmascan Resistance HQ.

"Dagnabbit! Stop talking to your AI and actually _listen_ to what I'm telling you!" Cid seethed. "They attached our cannon to Hook's ship and he's _aiming it at us!_"

The transceiver crackled with several seconds of static. "How fascinating!" Dr. Cid exclaimed.

"Just what's so fascinating about that?"

"Venat has found a way to redistribute mass quantities throughout the subatomic particle converter!" the doctor boasted with glee. "Marvelous! Simply marvelous!"

Cid grit his teeth and pounded the table. "I told you to _stop_ talking to your AI! I'm about to be blown to bits by my own baby!"

More static snapped, crackled, and popped before Dr. Cid offered his reply. "Yes, yes. Of course! Cid, old boy, have you tried enabling the deflector shields?"

"For the love of…" Cid smacked his hand against his face. "It's the _NOVENTA CANNON!_ No deflector shield in the universe can stop it—that's the _point!_"

"Dear Previa! The Noventa Cannon?! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Dr. Cid shouted in an uproar. "Evacuate the world posthaste!"

"You dingbat! You know I can't do that! Help me think of something! You designed all its defenses so you know all the flaws. Now spill it!"

"Flaws? Did you say _flaws?_ Dear sir, I'll have you know that all of my inventions are free of flaws."

"Don't you give me that! Swallow your pride or my ghost'll haunt you 'till the cannon's aimed at your precious 'Venat'," Cid threatened, now on his last straw. He never liked dealing with his more estranged colleague over a radio since in person, he let his fists do most of the talking whenever the good doctor fancied to value his work more than the lives he served to benefit.

"…Very well. Hold while I research the blueprints." The line went dead and Cid collapsed back into his chair.

"This isn't good," Roger fretted, now on his fifth cup of tea. "Not good at all. Oh dear… should I go warn Anita? What about the puppies? Oh dear, the puppies!" He dropped his tea and grabbed Cid by the collar. "How will we move one hundred and one Dalmatians? How?!"

Cid smacked Roger across the face. "Pull yourself together, man! We've been in jams before and we've made it out just fine."

"But in all those so-called 'jams' we never faced off with one of _your_ death machines!"

"Shut your trap!" Cid growled, flicking his nose so hard he accidentally scratched it enough to sting. "We never built it to be a death machine. We just wanted our home back."

Roger sighed, picking the spilled cup from off the floor and cleaning the mess with a rag. "I apologize, Cid. That outburst was uncalled for."

Cid flicked the opposite side of his nose. "Don't let it get to you. It's the panic talking and that kind of talk isn't worth squat."

The radio crackled again and Dr. Cid returned with his discovery. "Cid, are you there?"

"Yeah, go ahead. What'd you find?"

"In order to shut down the cannon's defenses, you'll need to apply an electrical surge to the fifty-first circuit along the fourth stabilizer. Doing so will cause a temporary shutdown of all primary, secondary, and tertiary functions. Any other method will result in one of the five backup systems taking charge over executing all three functions."

"How the _heck_ am I supposed to do that when the defenses are keeping the cannon safe from _all _attacks?"

"Well you very well can't fire an electrical device towards the cannon since its systems will react to destroy any incoming projectiles. However, if you were to go in person and—"

"You nimrod! If I could go in person, I'd just unplug the darned thing before it fired! The problem is I can't get anyone up there without getting shot down first."

"Then your problem lies with the targeting system and not the defense. That's not my area of expertise, as you know."

"Of course I know that!" Cid growled, crushing the styrofoam cup of tea in his hand. "But Al-Bhed made it clear that I can't get to the targeting system unless the defenses are shut down."

"That's quite the conundrum."

"No kidding."

The radio cackled filling Dr. Cid's silence with static. Meanwhile, Cid continued to maul and puncture the cup in his hand as though creating a new type of art form.

"Looks like Pongo," Roger commented on the styrofoam. Cid just glared at him.

"…Cid?" Dr. Cid crackled through the radio.

"What do you got for me?"

"I've located a blind spot."

"Where?"

"The fifteenth marker at thirty-five degrees. You'll only have a range of up to seventeen feet before you enter back into its sight."

Cid scoffed. "A lot of good _that_ does me! Nothing can get near that place from seventeen feet. The auto-rapid fire auxiliaries'll get anything the main cannon can't shoot down itself."

"Then I'm afraid there are no other flaws to exploit."

"Goody, goody gumdrops." Cid banged his head against the table in fury, further punishing his already wounded nose.

"Are we doomed?" Roger asked through his pipe as he puffed out nervous clouds of smoke.

"Heh." Cid closed his eyes. "Kiddo, we're _beyond_ doomed."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

How does a heart born to the light come to align with the darkness? To fall so far beyond the boundaries established at birth requires a transformation like no other—one that warps the very essence of a being into its antithesis. How such a transformation occurs varies across the spectrum, yet the ingredients to concoct this recipe for ruin remain steady regardless of the heart in question. In other words, the magnitude of events acting as prelude for the heart's initial descent into darkness need not reach levels of extremity, for even the smallest dose if administered at regular intervals will lead to a massive accumulation over time's passing and yield equal results.

Pain, fear, sorrow, guilt, hatred, and envy—these are the key components necessary for a heart of light to succumb to darkness. Whether administered in one traumatic moment or over a set period of time, it is inconsequential. So long as the seeds are sown within the heart and are allowed time to bathe in a constant stream of suffering, they will take root and sprout to consume the heart in its entirety until no spec of light is allowed freedom. Wrapped within the unrelenting hold of poisonous tentacles born from the darkness, the suffocated heart can no longer function and is thus lost to the Realm of Light forever.

A being that loses its heart in this fashion mutates into the form of a _Heartless_.

All mortals carry such seeds within their hearts, but not all succumb to the darkness. There are those who fight an endless struggle to conquer the Heartless lying dormant within, and in so doing, are unwittingly participating in the larger fight against the sin plaguing all of their kind.

_- Gaspar's Report #5_

* * *

In a dark and hallowed place where the sun never rose and the moon never shined, an eerie wind howled as if exhaled from the lungs of a demon. Darkness blanketed the whole of the hall save for a small cone of light that reached down from the ceiling and encircled the dead center. He kneeled there bathed in the faded, green light, gazing up in awe of the chapel's stained-glass dome. Strange images depicted in vibrant colors repeated a single emblem along each panel. At first glance, it resembled a unique breed of flower. But upon careful scrutiny, he recognized instead a blackened heart chained by sharp thorns.

"I'm not sure what you want with me," he said through gritted teeth as he rose to his feet. "But I can guess it isn't good." His knees almost gave out again as he took his first step in what seemed like ages, but he caught his balance just before they buckled.

"Dear child," answered a sweet, yet crafty voice as a figure descended from the shadows. "I mean you no harm. I have summoned you before me as a protective gesture. You see, I have saved your life in the process."

"Is that so?"

"Had I left you in the darkness," the voice continued, its owner drawing nearer with each word, "it would have ravaged your body without a vessel to protect you."

"So what—you want a 'thank you'?"

"That would be appropriate, though it was gratifying enough to rescue a_ lost soul_."

"_Thank you_. Now you won't mind if I leave." A foreboding presence lurked in the shadows and his instincts urged him to run. Not for his own sake, however. The darkness didn't scare him; nothing did. He was worried about someone else—someone special and important who didn't stand a chance if confronted with the darkness. He turned around and took two steps towards what he hoped was the exit before the voice spoke again.

"Not at all. However, don't you wish to know what became of your friends?"

He stopped.

"Ah, so I have captured your intrigue." A cunning smile stretched across Maleficent's face as she entered into the light. "They are scattered somewhere amongst the surrounding worlds. I can offer you the means by which to seek them out."

"In exchange for what?" he asked, turning around to face the witch. He saw her pale, livid face for the first time. Two long horns jutted out from the fabric shrouding her head, and the sight of them reminded him of an old story about a beast that rose from a bottomless pit of flames to conquer the world.

"A simple favor will be compensation enough. I have…an _errand_ for you."

"What kind of errand?"

"Nothing too troubling, I assure you," came the vague reply. "Though the occupation comes with a vessel and you are required to visit many worlds. Not a problem, I hope?"

He smirked. "No, that's…interesting."

"Yes, I thought it would be. So do we have a deal?"

"Only if I can search for my friends."

"Why, I wouldn't expect anything less. You will be at liberty to explore to your heart's content…provided you stay within the assigned boundaries."

He didn't even stop to think about it. Adventure, travel, and exploration—it was everything he had ever dreamed of, and it was his for the taking. "I'll do it."

The witch smiled her crafty smile in amusement. "Excellent. And what is your name, child?"

"Riku."

* * *

"_Come on, lazy bum. Wake up."_

"Huh…?" Sora shot open his eyes and sprung from the bed, his head clouded and disoriented. "Where…?"

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want because you wield the Keyblade."

Sora shook his head free of its daze and blinked a few times to regain focus. "I'm so glad," he uttered, now looking at the source of the familiar voice sitting across from him. "I'm so glad you're safe. I was really worried about you, Kairi."

"_Kairi?_ Who are you talking about?" Yuffie jumped from the bed to stand straight in front of Sora, leaning in close to his face and forcing his eyes to once again readjust. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie! Can't you tell?" She struck a pose, whipping out some of her knives and twirling them between her fingers to show her superior handling of the weapons.

"Wh-what?" Sora blinked in shock and the familiar image of his best friend dissolved into a young woman he had never met.

"Come on! I'm practically famous in these here parts," Yuffie boasted, though soon after paused to rethink that statement. "Well, I mean, you know….as famous as a stealthy ninja who takes no prisoners and leaves no foe alive can get. Eh-heh." The ninja twirled her knives again, concealing them once more upon her person before turning her head to glance at the opposite wall. There, her fearless leader leaned with his arms crossed along his chest and his mind off in world exclusive to his own worries. "Leon, remind me to call my publicist and tell him he's fired. This is getting ridiculous."

"Enough with the jokes." Leon pushed from the wall, eyes now open and dead set on Sora. "We have more important things to discuss."

"Like how you should start to love deeper, speak sweeter, and give forgiveness you've been denying?"

"_Enough_, Yuffie," growled the leader in such a gruff and menacing tone that he caused Sora to slide to his feet in a defensive stance.

"Just who are you people?" Sora demanded, fists in the air and ready for another battle.

Yuffie shook her head and plopped back onto the bed with a sigh. "Not your enemies, but I doubt that little stunt did much to convince you. Seriously, Leon, just chill out!"

Sora jolted back away from Yuffie, edging himself closer towards the room's backdoor while his eyes darted between the two strangers. "I don't know what's going on here, but I want some answers."

"You'll get them," Leon assured.

"Where's my sword?"

"The _Keyblade_," Leon corrected, nudging to the wall behind him where the weapon rested within the corner, "is safely out of your reach for the moment."

"Yeah, we had to get it away from you," Yuffie added. "That's how the Heartless managed to track you."

"Your heart is concealed from them for now, but it won't work for long." Leon took a step towards the blade, leaning down and taking it into his hand. He held it up to the light as if to examine it with a more careful eye. "It was always a legend up 'till now," he said, rotating it to get a full view of every angle. "Amazing how all the stories were true. Still, it's hard to believe that _you_ of all people are the chosen one."

Angered, Sora stomped his foot on the ground. "Why do you keep insulting me? Just what's your problem?"

"It doesn't really matter." Leon extended the Keyblade towards Sora, and in a bout of a bright light, the blade vanished from his grasp and reappeared within Sora's. "I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

"How about you start making some sense? Tell me what's going on."

"I'm not exactly licensed to be giving out history lessons, but since it's either me or Mr. Grumpy over there, I'd say you're better off hearing it from me." Yuffie patted the space next to her, beckoning Sora to take a seat. At first, he hesitated moving from his secure spot close to the escape route. Taking on one man with a large sword was doable, but fighting that man in conjunction with a girl wielding a whole set of knives equaled a narrow, if impossible, escape in Sora's mind. But as the heat of the moment died down and his sleepy daze from earlier cleared away to allow his mind more clarity, he doubted the two strangers possessed a true threat. After all, they were willing to explain themselves, and the man even returned the Keyblade instead of keeping Sora at a disadvantage.

Holding the Keyblade at his side, Sora walked over towards the bed and sat back down next to Yuffie. "Okay, I'm listening."

"Great, so, uh, mind if I ask you a question first?"

Sora raised his eyebrow. "Okay…?"

"Did'ya know that your homeworld and this town _aren't_ the only two worlds out there?"

"I kinda knew that, yeah."

Yuffie rubbed the back of her head. "Oh wow, really? Huh, wasn't expecting that answer. Most people get the shock of their lives finding that out, cuz, you know, it's supposed to be a secret and all."

"Well, I only know because one of my best friends came from a different world. She wasn't originally from my island, but we grew up together all the same."

"No way! You mean survivors wind up on worlds _other_ than Traverse Town?" Yuffie exclaimed, darting her eyes over at Leon who merely shrugged and gave her a look that conveyed, "Stranger things have happened."

"I was really little when she washed up on shore, so I can't tell you any more than that."

"Huh, how strange…" Yuffie drifted off, giving her eyes a roll up towards the ceiling and gave the intriguing, new information a good few seconds to settle in a firm spot deep within the back of her mind for further speculation and investigation at a later time. Once she tagged it as a mental note saved with Cid's name on it, her gaze once again found Sora. "Anyway, yeah, different worlds—and I mean _lots_ of different worlds. You ever see the stars at night—all those millions and billions of tiny dots in the sky?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah."

"Every single one of those stars is a world. Space is filled with worlds as far as the eye can see. But the thing is, their existence has always been a secret."

"Really, why?"

"Meddlers," Leon stated from his leaning position against the wall. "If word got out that other worlds existed, the foolhardy would experiment to breach the barriers surrounding each world for one reason or another. In the end, it would result in an influx of meddlers pouring in where they aren't welcomed and upsetting the delicate balance within each world."

"Who made that decision?" Sora asked. "I mean, that would suggest that people knew about the worlds up to a certain point, right? So who would have enough power to make a choice like that and enforce it?"

"No one knows."

"Are you serious?"

"Hey, even _we_ didn't know there were other worlds out there until the war broke out eight years ago," Yuffie said. "All the worlds have been secret from each other because they've never been connected. Well, until now, that is. When the Heartless came, everything changed."

"Heartless?"

"The ones that attacked you."

"You mean those shadow things?"

"Yup. They're the Heartless."

Leon folded his arms. "Those without hearts. The darkness in people's hearts attracts them, and there is darkness within every heart."

"Hey, Leon. We should tell him about…" Yuffie trailed off, uncertain as to how to continue. Discussing the destruction of Hollow Bastion just once in a blue moon was like slamming a salted block of concrete against Leon's open wounds, but bringing it up a second time? She didn't want to witness the painful effects of a second round with Leon's darkest hour.

"Maleficent," Leon finished for her. He refused to show his weakness in front of the Keyblade master, or anyone else for that matter. Pushing away all his pains, Leon remained emotionless, keeping his face straight and his heart rate level. "She's the evil witch responsible for what's happened." He continued explaining the situation, taking it upon himself to describe the atrocities wreaked on Hollow Bastion, the fate of the Outer Rim, and the current state of affairs facing the remaining worlds.

* * *

Back in the Third District, Zack finished his own informative lecture on the Heartless. It varied little from his counterparts' explanation to the Keyblade master, detailing the basic definition of a Heartless, the cause for their existence, and the extent of their reach across the worlds. "That's everything we know so far. Have any questions?"

Axel crossed his arms with a smirk. "No. You've been _very_ helpful." None of the basic mechanics driving the Heartless changed between universes, nor did the overall history of the worlds as affected by Maleficent's devious endeavors. That gave Axel a huge advantage on the field—one he would exploit to the fullest. But most important of all, he knew precisely how to describe the situation to Sora: the Heartless, controlled by Maleficent and her flunkies, were after the Seven Princesses of Heart and planned to use them as a means to open the Door to Darkness. An easy, simple, and quick explanation without any twists or turns save for the occasional colossal Heartless here and there. So the Heartless were bigger? Big deal. Everything else seemed the same. The whole journey looked like a piece of cake and he didn't plan on sharing any slices with the duck, cricket, or dog.

But Axel forgot the old saying: _you can't have your cake and eat it, too_. Something had to give somewhere, and if the cake was made with all the wrong ingredients, that meant everyone would get their fair share without the pleasure of enjoying an edible, easy-street answer from a man who crashed through the time stream and landed in an alternate past. Axel was not an all-seeing psychic who knew everything still to come, and he would grow to regret thinking otherwise.

"Well, I've learned all I need to know," Axel said while turning for the door. "Now I need a ride out of here and I'm all set."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay and join us, Axel?" Zack asked one more time. He pressed again and again hoping Axel would change his mind. But as before, the answer remained unchanged.

"I have places to go and people to see. You understand, don't you?"

Zack's face stiffened and his voice took on a much more stern tone. "More than you realize," he replied in a way that made Axel uneasy, as though Zack knew the thoughts running through the liar's mind. For a moment, Axel didn't think Zack would let him leave or help him acquire a ship. The soldier gave him a peculiar look when their eyes connected, as if he wanted to say something further but instead held his tongue. After several awkward seconds, Zack finally reached for the door. "Come on, let's go see…_Cid?_" The second the door opened, Cid came barging in and pushed Zack to the side with enough force to send him smack into the wall.

"Cid, what's the matter?" Aerith exclaimed as the door slammed behind the livid man. "You're drenched with sweat and look terrible!" She rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around his arm, fearing his knees would buckle.

"Forget about me," he rasped. The sheer terror coursing through his veins robbed him of all his color, and his mouth ran so dry he resorted to gnawing on his tongue in order to release what little droplets of moisture remained. "We've got a _huge_ problem, kids, and we need to act _fast_."

"First you have to tell us what's wrong," said Zack after rebounding from the wall and placing a hand on Cid's shoulder. "Why don't you sit down and—"

"I don't have _time_ to sit down!" Cid shouted as he slapped Zack's hand away from his shoulder and slipped free of Aerith's hold. "The whole darned Blockade's surrounded the town and they've got the _Noventa Cannon_ aimed at us!"

Aerith looked from Cid to Zack. "Did you just say…"

"…the _Noventa Cannon_?" Zack jumped back as if dodging a mighty blow to the gut. His jaw unhinged and hung loose while memories of the cannon's horrid past flashed through his mind.

Cid flailed his arms in the air. "Are ya deaf, or has your spiky hair gotten so long that it's clogged your ears?"

"Gawrsh, gang! Try to calm down," said Goofy as he moved to settle the chaotic storm. "What's this whole cannon business about?"

"The Noventa Cannon…is the ultimate weapon," Zack explained with his brows both furrowed and glistening. "Anything it shoots is destroyed within seconds—no exceptions."

Goofy gulped as bullets of sweat shot down his head. "Ya mean…even _worlds_?"

Zack gave a solemn nod.

"You've gotta stop them!" Donald quacked, jumping up and down with fear. "Quick, quick! Go do something!" He ran over to Zack and started pushing him towards the door, but the soldier planted his feet firm into the ground.

"It's not something I can fight with a sword, Donald," Zack remarked. "It's going to take much more than that."

"Aw, phooey!"

"Cid, how did this happen?" Aerith asked. "Did they find our base?"

Cid flicked his nose, accidentally scraping off a forming scab. "I'm not sure, darlin'. I can only think of two reasons they'd be here: one is if they've managed to hunt us down, and the other's if this world's playing host to something they don't agree with."

"Oh no…" Zack's face went pale.

"What?"

Zack pressed his hand against his head and massaged his forehead. "I think…this is my fault. The Blockade must've followed me here from the Outer Rim. First they attacked me out of the blue, and now they're here. It's all my fault!"

Again Cid flicked his nose. "That makes no sense, boy."

"What do you mean? It's crystal clear! They followed me here!"

"It's not logical," Cid said with a shake of his head. "Think about it, boy: all this time you've been making trips in, out, and around that fleet of ships and they haven't so much as hovered near you funny—and now, on your hundredth-some-odd trip they just _happened_ to get ticked off at ya? I don't think so. Something must've sent them into a tizzy this time 'round."

"…Or some_one_," Donald added with a glare in Axel's direction.

At that moment, the pieces fell and clicked into place. Everyone turned to face Axel, who met their stares with a calm and bemused exterior. "I know what you're thinking—and you're wrong."

"You're the only variable that's different in this equation!" Cid shouted, stomping his way forward to lean right in Axel's face. "It's _you_, isn't it? You're the one who led them here!"

Axel wiped his cheek clean of Cid's stray spit before replying. "Just because your delivery boy picks up _one_ hitchhiker, it doesn't necessitate the fact that he's a spy or a renegade."

"Give me one good reason not to kill you where you stand!" Cid growled, his fear and anxiety overriding all reason and rationale. Fueled by his panic, he stuffed a hand deep into his back pocket, reaching into his emergency reserves. In all the years since he settled in Traverse Town, not once did he ever find himself in need of the cache stashed hidden on his person, but Cid was always a man ready for an emergency. Even before the war, he was never one left unprepared. Spare nuts and bolts, tools, toothpicks, paperclips, pens, pencils, adhesive, matches and more—Cid walked around with pockets hidden within his pockets to hold stockpiles of supplies for every occasion. Even the band strapping his goggles to his forehead served as a holding place for a spare flashlight and a pack of gum.

Yet in his back pocket he kept the one set of items he prayed he would never need again—not since the horrors that led to his flight from Hollow Bastion. Cid Highwind wrapped his fingers tight around a cylindrical item pressed deep within his pocket and yanked it out in a fit of fury. There in his sweaty grip, shoved straight into Axel's face, was a stick of dynamite.

"Whoa, whoa!" When his eyes fell on the explosive, Zack's reflexes kicked into action. Without any conscious feedback, his body fell into fluid motion, grabbing Cid by the shoulders and yanking him far away from Axel. The action took the older man by surprise and the sudden jerk further loosened the dynamite already poised to slip from his sweat soaked hands. The explosive fumbled through the air until Donald caught it with a devilish grin. He cradled it close to his chest with one hand, while the other lifted his staff near the dynamite's wick. He shot Axel a sinister, triumphant smile before calling forth his magical aura. The staff glowed bright orange as the flame spell summoned by its master surged towards the head.

Donald broke into hysterical laughter in eager anticipation for the explosion once he lit the stick. Oh, he could just picture Axel's stunned face as he pleaded for mercy only to receive none! He would admit his warlock origins and beg for forgiveness. How sweet those pleas and words of desperate apology would sound coming from Axel before his demise! But Donald's sense of superiority vanished as fast as it had come and he once again found himself left without adequate leverage over his newfound foe. "Give me that!" Zack snagged the dynamite before the incantation was completed and placed it in his breast pocket for safekeeping. "Everyone just quiet down," he ordered, and the room fell silent, leaving Cid and Donald to settle with sending death glares towards Axel.

Zack's eyes once again fell on Axel, who was leaning against the wall as cool as a cucumber. In reality, he struggled only to contain his laughter. Dynamite to kill him? How redundant. The second the stick exploded, he would have absorbed the blast into himself and left nothing behind save for a puff of smoke. Regardless, the fact that everyone suspected him of concealing a secret alliance with the Heartless alone provided enough material for an award-winning comedy flick. While a doomsday weapon continued its countdown, the fools aimed to blow up the one innocent guy impervious to fire. Hilarious!

"You want to kill me, too?" Axel asked, no longer able to conceal his growing amusement. He smirked. "I'm not a spy, you know."

"Axel…" Zack took several steps forward, both positioning himself closer to the suspect and blocking off any potential escape routes. "I want you to promise me that you aren't the cause—that these ships aren't here because of you."

Axel rolled his eyes. "You're wasting your time yapping with me. Don't you have a cannon to stop?"

"Look me in the eyes and _promise me_ that you are _not_ a threat to our group." It came as an order, not a plea, and one spoken with gripping authority. Ever since their meeting in New Port City, Axel heard nothing short of the lightest, almost carefree, tones coming from Zack save for his panicked shouts during their escape from the Blockade. But now a new, almost foreign voice erupted from the soldier's mouth and Axel realized just how powerful a man he was dealing with. He met Zack's heated gaze, and in that moment, his eyes tricked him into believing Sora was staring right back at him. Those eyes communicated the same message he always received when staring into Sora's: "Back off," they said. "Back off and I'll let you walk easy, but push one more wrong button and I'll slice you real good." Under that calm, carefree exterior beat the heart of a valiant protector. With his friends in mortal danger, it was Zack's duty to protect them and he would cut down anyone he deemed a threat.

Just like Sora.

"I am not responsible for this," Axel said, looking Zack dead in the eyes. At first, the whole situation made little difference to him. Whether the Resistance lived or died; whether Traverse Town perished in the wake of the Noventa Cannon's ultimate might; whether everyone in that roomed deemed him an enemy and ally to the Heartless. None of it mattered to Axel. It didn't—or rather, it shouldn't have mattered. Yet as he stood there faced with Zack's intense gaze, Axel wanted to get the record straight and clear his name. He wasn't a threat and he wanted—no, _needed_—Zack to know that. Assuring him in that moment meant assuring those Sora-like eyes, and that was all that mattered to Axel: his inner character as recognized by Sora.

"…I believe you."

"What?" Donald's jaw dropped so far it almost dented the floor. "You're just going to take his word for it?"

"I am," Zack replied while still looking at Axel, this time with kinder, less-judgmental eyes. His posture relaxed by a small margin with relief.

"You're crazy!" The duck threw his little, blue sailor's hat down on the floor and stomped on it. "Crazy, crazy, _crazy_! He's a mass-murdering, deceptive, evil warlock's disciple! You can't trust a word he says!"

"He's not lying. The ships are here for a different reason." Zack turned to look at Cid, ending the blame-game in the process. "How much longer do we have until they fire?"

"I ran a remote diagnostic using our stealth satellites," Cid said with a flick of his wounded nose. Blood collected under his thumbnail as he took a swipe against the reopened scab. "According to my calculations, we have less than thirty minutes."

"Great, well, since it's likely you'll be evacuating anyway, can I have a ship?" Axel asked, hoping to grab Sora and blast off before the cosmic fireworks display.

"Are you _kidding_? No ship can get off this world now—the Blockade'll shoot you down the second you lift off!"

Axel grit his teeth. "You mean I'm stuck here?"

"You and everyone else."

"There's got to be another way," Axel pressed.

"Don't got none, boy. It's all or nothin'. If we can't find a way to get those ships out of here, everybody dies."

"Then how do we stop the cannon? What's the plan?"

Cid sighed and shook his weary head. "That's up to our leader."

"What did Leon say when you told him?" Aerith asked. "Is he working on a strategy?"

"Eh?" Cid raised an eyebrow and took a real good look around the room for the first time. "Dagnabbit, I _thought_ it was too quiet! Where the heck's Leon?"

Aerith's eyes widened. "You mean he didn't meet you at the shop?"

"I didn't see him in the shop or while running over here to tell you kids the news."

"Oh no!" Aerith clasped her hands over her mouth, fearing for the worst. Her heartbeat quickened and whatever little color remained drained from her face. "Leon!" She made a move towards the door, but Zack grabbed her hand before it reached the knob.

"You stay here where it's safe. I'll go look for him," Zack said with a small, reassuring smile.

Aerith slipped free from Zack's hold. "I'm not a defenseless little girl, Zack."

"Hey, I know that. But with Noventa aimed straight at us, the Heartless count for this town's going to be through the roof. We have to be tactical if we want to pull out of this, and that means playing everyone's strengths to our advantage. Mine's whacking the stuffing out of Heartless and yours is organizing people so they're not running around in mass panic." Zack took hold of the doorknob. "Leave Leon to me. You go to the First and make sure everything's under control."

"What if he's hurt?"

"I'll bring him back to you for some heavy duty Curaga spells," Zack replied with his calming smile as he turned the knob. "Everything will be okay." He stepped out of the base, letting the door click softly behind him.

"Wait, I'll tag along." Axel pushed from the wall and tailed after Zack.

Aerith watched the door close a second time and fell forward to lean her forehead against it. "Will it really be okay…?" she whispered with her eyes closed tight.

"Dammit all!" Cid punched the nearby wall. "It's all my fault…"

"Don't say that." Now standing with renewed resolve, Aerith turned to face Cid. "Everything you've created is meant to help people—even the cannon." She pulled a white handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at the blood streaming down Cid's nose. "You're not the one aiming it at us right now, so it's not your responsibility to take. Right now, we have to do everything we can to continue helping the people of this world. So no more self-blame, okay?"

"Yeah, you're right." Cid took the handkerchief and gave it a quick spit before cleaning off the rest of his face. "Okay, kids. Time to get to work."

"We'll help too," Goofy said while nodding at Donald.

Cid raised his thumb to his nose, but retracted it after a moment of conscious intervention. "Darn right you will. We'll need all the hands we can get." He then ran out the door while the others followed.

* * *

Shadows pooled into the plaza of the Second District, each with a set of eager, yellow eyes peering at the illuminating sky. In the center of the masses, a patch of untainted ground remained until the portly first mate Smee materialized within a flash of blue light. "Good, good," he said as he glanced around his surroundings. "So you're all here, then? We need to work fast now. Mustn't keep the Captain waiting, after all."

The once flat shadows hugging the ground bulged and pairs of yellow eyes began to ooze up towards Smee. Heartless sprung from the shadows, fidgeting and twitching circles around their superior. Already aware of their task, they awaited his command like a pack of rabid dogs waiting to be set free from their leash.

Their superior continued to survey the district unawares of his dear captain's master plot raging above the atmosphere. Smee knew nothing of the Noventa Cannon poised to fire and destroy the whole of the world, nor that his captain sent him into town as a distraction—a means to ensure the Keyblade master would not flee the targeted zone. As he continued his observation, wondering where the Keybearer was hiding in a town so large, he did so with a small inkling of pride thinking that the captain chose _him_ for such an important task. Yes, he would find the Keyblade and carry it back to the ship where a hero's welcome awaited him. Oh, how Captain Hook would be pleased! He'd honor his beloved first mate with a tasty dinner tonight, ho, ho! Something barbequed, or perhaps grilled. Smee's mouth watered at the thought. Anything flaming hot, and cooked to the bone would make his day.

"Go on, now!" Smee shooed the shadows away with the repeated wave of his hands. "Go find the Keyblade and be quick about it! Tear this whole town apart if you have to; just don't keep the Captain waiting."

And off the Heartless went while their superior continued reveling his dinnertime fantasies without ever once suspecting that the Noventa Cannon would turn _him_ into something flaming hot and cooked to the bone.

* * *

"…And that's the story." As he finished describing the horrors surrounding the Order of Thanatos, Leon once again took to leaning against the wall as if the weight of his grief hindered him too much to stand.

Meanwhile, Sora had sat quietly on the bed listening to every word. He didn't know what to make of it. Everything sounded like a campfire horror story made real, and part of him wished Kairi's voice would ring in his ears once again to guide him out of the nightmare. But the giant key in his hands proved the reality of the grim situation, and it also served as the symbol of his responsibility.

"I can't believe any of this…" Sora uttered, closing his eyes. "This is crazy." He shook his head, but a startling thought hit him. "Wait a minute." His eyes shot open and landed on Leon. "What about my island—my friends? What happened to everyone?"

Leon exhaled. "You know what? I really don't know."

"But you're the Resistance!" Sora jumped off the bed, his brows furrowed and his hand gripping the Keyblade tighter. "Isn't it your _business_ to know?"

"You really want the details?" Leon asked, daring him to say yes.

Sora's shoulders dropped as he lost his stamina. The color drained from his face. "Are they…? They aren't…_gone_, are they?"

"I told you: I don't know."

"No…" Collapsing back onto the bed, Sora tossed his head back to look at the ceiling in an attempt to keep tears from trickling down his face. "Why me? Why is this happening?"

"The Keyblade chooses its master," Yuffie said, placing her hand on Sora's back and giving him a gentle, comforting rub. "…And it chose _you_."

"So tough luck," Leon added, earning a scowl from his partner.

"Honestly, Leon, do you have to say it like _that_?"

Leon opened his mouth to answer, but wound up shouting instead. Before Sora and Yuffie realized what had happened, the Gunblade sliced clean through a stray Heartless. The shadow materialized into the room without prelude and launched itself towards the unsuspecting Keybearer before falling to the might of the Gunblade.

"Yuffie, run! Follow primary protocol!" Leon shouted, slashing through a pack of reinforcements.

"Gotcha, boss!" In a puff of smoke, Yuffie vanished.

"Sora, let's go!" Leon grabbed a twitching pirate shadow by the throat and chucked it out the window where it landed disoriented in the alley.

Now under threat, Sora's reflexes kicked into gear. With a swipe of the Keyblade, he cleared the room of the three remaining Heartless before charging out the window after Leon. The second he touched down, his arms snapped forward and thrust the Keyblade through the glass-ridden pirate.

"These are just small fry," Leon said as he lifted his weapon to rest on his shoulder. "Don't bother going after all of them. Just cut through the ones that matter to get to their leader."

"Leader?"

"The one controlling them. He has to be somewhere nearby. Find him and take him out; that should fix the Heartless situation."

"What about you? Aren't you coming with me?"

Leon turned to face the alley leading towards the Item Shop. "Yuffie and I have to protect the First District. It's the only area guaranteed to be Heartless-free, and I have to make good on my word."

"So I have to go all alone…?"

"You can do it." Leon now looked Sora dead in the eyes. "That key in your hand is one of a kind. Only one person can wield it, and that person is you. You can do anything, Sora. Don't _ever_ doubt your abilities. Understand? You wouldn't have the Keyblade if you weren't worthy."

"I guess you're right…"

"I'm counting on you. Now go." Without waiting for a reply or sign of acknowledgment, Leon rushed off to defend the First District. In the back of his mind, he felt doubtful of the situation. He was still reeling from the shock of discovering that the legendary Keyblade master was a _kid _of all people. The future looked bleak, but the battle-worn warrior harnessed the last of his fading hope and invested it in the belief that Sora would stand victorious in the end. If he didn't, Leon saw no point in struggling to survive anymore. Either way, an end drew near for Leon, and he left it up to Sora to determine the nature of it.

The second Leon left the area, another wave of Heartless popped onto the scene and surrounded the Keybearer.

"Okay, I can do this!" After psyching himself out, Sora cut his way past the mob and inched his way down the alley as he struck every shadow in sight. Heartless after Heartless fell to the swift strokes of his blade, and soon, the wisdom behind Leon's words became clear. With each attack, Sora grew more and more fatigued. The self-replenishing army continued its merciless assault regardless of how many shadows fell in the process. However many it took to wear the Keyblade master down, it mattered not. In the end, their sheer numbers would overwhelm the boy and pry the Key from his hands without resistance.

But Sora refused to allow that. "The ones that matter, huh? I'll remember next time." He spun on his heel and ran, this time dodging the incoming Heartless rather than retaliating. Running down the waterway towards the gate, he took a sharp right and bulldozed his way through the nearest doors. Slamming the doors closed behind him, Sora managed to escape the battalion's onslaught for the moment, but outside they continued to claw at their new obstacle. The battle was far from over, he knew, but he needed a breather.

Leaning his back against the doors, Sora exhaled and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He slid down to rest on the floor while he regained composure. "I need to get past them and find the leader, but where could he be? This town is so big…" He sighed and scratched a ticklish spot on his leg. "Wherever he is, I have to figure a way to get to him without wasting too much energy." Leon depended on him to save the day, but without a plan, he knew the Heartless would wear him down enough for their big, bad boss to flick him to the side like a piece of discarded jumbo-dino snot. He scratched his leg again. "Maybe if I went back to the bell tower I could get a good view of the town. It should be easy to spot him from up there, and maybe the Heartless won't think to look for me on the roof." The more he mulled over the idea, the more appealing it sounded. "Yeah, that's it! A birds-eye view of the place!"

Sora smiled to himself and gave his arms a much-needed stretch before scratching his leg. "It's the perfect plan, and if the shadows come, I'll just pull a Leon-maneuver and give 'em a one way ticket to the ground." He chuckled then, even giggled, until his laughter rolled out uncontrollably. The itchy spot on his leg dragged its way under his ticklish knee and Sora couldn't breathe during the laughing fit. Rolling sideways, he managed to jerk his leg free of its tickle torture, and after gasping for air, he glanced around for the culprit.

"So _you're_ responsible for all this!" Sora chuckled with a broad smile as he straightened his posture and reached out to grab a Dalmatian puppy. The Dalmatian barked and licked Sora's face when it came within range. "Hey, that really tickles, you know!" The puppy barked again, wagging its excited tail. "So do you live here, boy? It's quite a big house for such a little puppy." For the first time, Sora managed to get a good look around the place he stumbled into. The hallways were rather narrow, but from what he could judge, the house itself had plenty of rooms to spare. Various picture frames adorned the walls, most containing photographs of various Dalmatians. "These people must really love dogs…"

Dragging its wet tongue up Sora's nose, the little Dalmatian gave his new friend one last slobbery kiss before wriggling free of Sora's hold and jumping back onto the ground. He let out another string of happy barks as he scampered away into one of the nearby rooms. Not even minute passed before he came clambering back towards the bewildered Keybearer surrounded by quite a large pack of equally excited puppies.

"Whoa! Are all of these guys your brothers and sisters?" Sora didn't even blink when the eager Dalmatians flew on top of him and stuck to him like magnets. One managed to climb his shoulder and nestle itself within his spiky hair while others wheedled their way into his pockets, and still others made a comfy play-pen out of his lap. "Hey, now! Take it easy! Ha, ha!" All the while, Sora rubbed and petted each one of them, forgetting about his responsibilities as Keyblade master for the moment. He laughed and relaxed as the mass of puppies swamped over him like a living fuzzy blanket teeming with warmth.

"What's all that noise? Has _The Thunderbolt Adventure Hour_ finished so soon?"

"Huh?" Sora peeked up from behind the huddled pile of puppies licking his face clean to see a woman approaching down the hallway.

"Oh my! Who are you?" she asked as she rushed over to help him free. "What in heavens has gotten into these puppies? Here now, Lucky you get out of that young man's hair! And Rolly, you've already had your supper, so stop scrounging for scraps in that poor boy's pockets!" One by one, she plucked the puppies off of Sora until the hallway was crammed with a sea of happy and peppy puppies howling, barking, and panting. "There, now. Give me your hand, won't you?"

"Thanks." Sora took the woman's hand and hopped back onto his feet.

"Dear me, your face is simply dripping with slobber!" Lifting her apron, she used the cloth to clean the drool. "I must apologize for their behavior," she said while scrubbing the apron all across Sora's face to ensure she cleaned every inch, including behind his ears. "I've never seen them this ecstatic!"

"That's okay," Sora chuckled. "To be honest, I always wanted a puppy." He kneeled down to pet the Dalmatians within reach. "I'm Sora, by the way."

"Oh, where are my manners? I am Anita."

"Nice to meet you, Anita. Are all of these puppies yours?"

Anita giggled. "You could say that. In truth, they belong to Pongo and Perdita. They're the parents of these fine pups." She pointed to a picture on the wall that depicted dozens of puppies surrounding two fully-grown Dalmatians. "That is their family portrait."

"I see. So where are mom and pop now?"

"Interesting question. They must've run after my husband, Roger. He left a while ago to check on his work in the Gizmo Shop."

"Must be cool having your dog follow you to work."

"In the old days, it was an added treat. But in these times, Pongo serves more as Roger's bodyguard."

Sora's smile fell. "What do you mean?"

Anita hugged her arms across her chest and her shoulder leaned against the wall. "You must be new to this world. Surely you've noticed the shadows?"

"You mean the Heartless."

"Yes. They hide where you least expect to see them, dancing in the corner of your eye until you turn to look and see nothing there. Lurking, watching, waiting—they prey on the people of this town, no, _all _towns. Everyone lives in fear of the Heartless, never knowing who will be the next target. They jab their sharpened claws into unsuspecting pedestrians, digging deep into the chest until they brush against the object of their desires. It happens quickly—too quickly. In go the claws and out comes the heart. Nothing remains of the victim except the still beating heart before it is devoured by those creatures."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since the advent of the war eight years ago."

"…And no one can stop them?"

"Oh, Leon and his Resistance try their best. Those children…how I've watched them grow into the fine people they are today. They've known nothing but war since their earliest days, yet despite their efforts, they are powerless to overthrow the witch."

"So there's no hope…?"

Anita shook her head. "Young man, there is _always_ hope. Legend foretells the coming of a great warrior—one with the Key to our survival. The Keyblade master will ride the flames of rejuvenation and purge the shadows from the lands. The worlds will be purified with light and the doors will be locked to prevent future wars." She sighed and gave a small chuckle. "So the legend says, at any rate. I'm not one to judge the accuracy of a such poetic prose."

"But you believe in him—this 'great warrior'?"

"I do. The reality may vary from the tale, but I do believe he will come."

Sora's head drooped. Everyone was counting on him—not just Leon. As Keyblade master, he served as the hope for a better tomorrow, a life without the Order of Thanatos. People like Anita depended on him and prayed for too long for his arrival. But it troubled him. Just hours ago, he was an average kid from the islands whose biggest adventure in history involved strapping on his snorkel gear, stretching his mom's dishwashing gloves over his tiny, six-year-old hands, and arming himself with two coconuts and a toy, wooden sword all to go hunting for the monster hiding inside the Secret Place.

"Oh man…" Sora's shoulders hunched just before a comforting pair of hands came to rest on them. He looked up to see Anita's gentle, smiling face.

"The Keyblade master will come. All he needs is a nudge in the proper direction."

Sora's eyes widened. "You know? How…?"

"I saw you slay that terrible giant from the window. You can fell mighty beasts, Sora. You have nothing to fear. Just believe."

"Believe…"

The puppies around him barked in a harmonious chorus, and a pack of them dashed up to his legs and gave Sora another round of ticklish licks.

Anita chuckled. "They believe in you, too."

"Ha, ha!" Sora gave his newfound furry pals another round of pats before standing to his full height. "Well if that's the case, I can't let you guys down, now can I?" He stretched out his open hand, and in a burst of light, the Keyblade materialized in his grip. "Thanks for the pick-me-up, Anita. I needed that."

"Anytime, Sora. There's a door at the very end off this hallway. It will take you into the Second District. You may find what you're looking for there. Good luck and keep yourself safe."

"Will do!" He threw a thumbs-up to accompany his ear-to-ear smile and then made a dash for the door.

"Come back and visit the puppies anytime!" Anita shouted after him, with the puppies barking their own version of the same sentence.

Outside, Sora didn't take two steps away from the door before a squad of Heartless surrounded him. Keyblade at the ready, Sora launched himself at the pirates and cut a path for himself in only one direction: _forward_. "The ones that matter!" He followed the line of attackers out of the alleyway and into the plaza where the big catch awaited his arrival with giddy anticipation. "You must be the leader," he said, slapping a pirate to the side where it bounced along the nearby buildings like a pinball.

"Well done, boys! Well done!" Smee applauded. "This will surely please the Captain. Yes indeed, ho, ho!"

Sora slashed the Keyblade in the air. "Enough! I want you take your Heartless and leave this world. The innocent people here aren't your play things!"

"Oh my, a feisty one, are you? Yes, you would have to be in order to take your ship and break through our blockade."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. You can run all you like, but as long as you have that Keyblade, we'll be able to track you down _anywhere_ you go."

"Come at me if you want," Sora growled. He slid his feet apart, bending his knees as he lifted the Keyblade. "But I warn you: everything you've done, all the people you've terrorized, all the hearts you've stolen—all of this, it ends _now_!"

"You don't scare me, boy. I'm not Captain Hook's first mate just for my magic foot massages!" Putting two fingers in his mouth, Smee inhaled a great deal of air and let out a screeching whistle. Within seconds, a new squad of Heartless popped onto the scene—ones with longer, sharper, nastier blades in hand. The twitched and they swayed side-to-side, watching the Keyblade master with their hungry eyes. "Give me the item," Smee commanded, and the leader Heartless—a pirate with a large, black skull-and-bones captain's hat tossed a boat anchor at Hook's first mate. "There we are, all armed and ready for an old-fashioned brawl."

"Bring it on!"

Smee clasped both of his hands carefully on the anchor and lifted it up into the air. Now unobstructed by Heartless, Sora could see it was no ordinary anchor. The end tip extended far out where the metal formed a long barrel. Sharpened knives lined the whole of the frame like teeth, and a tempered steel chain looped through the ring for retracting the weapon.

Forcing all his might into his arms, Smee hurdled the deadly anchor at the Keybearer. "Attack!"

* * *

"Are you sure we can be of no further assistance?"

"No, you've done enough. So long as you protect the package, Donald and Goofy will handle the rest when the time comes."

They stood outside an abandoned structure far beyond the Third District where a magical swamp hindered the reach of shadows. An owl hooted from its perch above the tattered piece of cloth concealing the back entrance to the structure. But aside from its reverberating calls, all was silent. They chose the isolated mound of earth as their secret place to ensure no Heartless could learn of their meeting. Speaking in a tongue long forgotten, they served as the King's last defense. Before his abduction, he entrusted his closest companion with an important task—one that he foresaw would sway the outcome of the final battle.

So they stood there, the three secret knights employed by the King: Pluto, Pongo, and Perdita. Setting the trap that would slay the demonic force controlling the Order of Thanatos and relinquish Maleficent's hold over the universe. All they required now was patience.

"We will protect it with our lives," Pongo said, his voice adamant.

"You needn't worry, Pluto," Perdita added. "But what will you do now?"

Pluto scratched behind his long, floppy ear. "I have many more messages to deliver. Being man's best friend isn't exactly a walk in the park." He stopped mid-scratch. "Oh, I could _suuure_ go for one of those right about now. Life's rough." He resumed scratching.

"You don't have to tell me, old boy," Pongo chuckled. "Just be careful, won't you?"

Pluto smiled wide, showing off his pearly whites. "Same goes for you two." With a final bark, Pluto flipped around and jumped into the moat, doggy paddling his way back into town.

Perdita lowered her head close to the ground. "Pongo, I'm frightened."

"There now, darling." Pongo rested his head atop hers. "Everything will be put right and proper. You'll see. We just need to trust the King."

"But what of those dreadful shadows? I fear for the children, not to mention Anita and Roger."

"If Pluto's news is correct, then the Key has been found and the dark times will soon end. That's why we have to protect the package at any cost."

"I can only hope you're right…"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

A terrible fright spread like the pox throughout the air, infecting the townspeople and festering within the shared worries of all. Burgers remained half-eaten, the infamous line at the post office all but vanished, the idle reverberation of chitchatting throughout the streets ceased. Everyone knew that the Great Darkness had returned with its insatiable appetite. It swallowed their homeworlds and now hungered for the surrogate home that allowed the refugees to cling to the Realm of Light for just a little longer.

The lights in the nighttime sky overpowered the familiar constellations, drowning out the gentle starlight with the unnatural luminosity of thousands of warship engines. But the light emitted by the gummi ships alone did not paralyze the citizens of Traverse Town. No, they feared not the tiny ships with their petty Heartless, for they knew their ever-resourceful guardian freedom fighters would protect them from such irksome pests. What halted the town once brimming and bustling with life did not take the form of a shadow or a ship or a devious villain. The people fled the streets like a panicked, wild herd in fear of what turned their tranquil sky into a chaotic inferno of unspeakable horror.

Poised above the atmosphere and aimed at the defenseless world below, the Noventa Cannon continued to amass the energy required for its ultimate attack. The charging mass of raw power focused within the barrel emitted the violent light that scorched the once brilliant midnight-blue sky into a blazing red-orange, and gave Traverse Town the first and only daylight it would ever experience.

A condemning evil befell the Realm of Light's final haven, and the wayward hearts fortunate enough to escape the darkness once before knew Lady Luck would not bless them a second time. The abandoned streets harbored no one save for the fighters vanquishing the shadows unawares of the grim situation imperiling them from above. Yet, as the end loomed nearer, they took notice of the fiery glow bathing the town in its flaming hue.

Leon shouldered his Gunblade and signaled Yuffie to his side. "Look at the sky," he ordered while craning his head towards the heavens.

"Whoa, what the heck's going on? Did Roger accidentally drop his pipe into the emergency flare kit again?"

"That's no flare." Without another word, Leon ran for the Accessory Shop with Yuffie clambering after him.

* * *

After securing shelter for everyone in the First District and doing their best to calm the masses with the assurance that the Resistance would thwart the attack, Donald and Goofy ran off to the secret garage to contact Chip and Dale for some emergency backup. Meanwhile, Aerith and Cid retreated to the shop's underground meeting room where they waited anxiously for Zack to return with Leon and Yuffie so they could formulate some sort of plan. But in reality, Cid knew there was no plan. As the clock continued to tick, time ran thin for the Resistance. Even with their leader present, no strategy he could concoct would suffice. Cid wanted Zack to retrieve Leon and Yuffie so that everyone could be together in their final moments.

So he sat there on a wooden crate, chewing on a piece of reed as he eyed the second hand round the face of the room's moogle clock. Another minute passed without word from Zack, and Cid buried his face in his hands.

"…There comes a time in every man's life when he can't hold back the pain anymore."

"Cid?" Aerith looked over at the pale man from her seat at near the coffee machine.

"When his strength's all gone," he continued, face still in his hands, "and the will that kept him going for so long runs out of steam."

"What are you saying? You're talking as if this is the end!"

Cid let out a shaky sigh as he dragged his hands down his face where he let them fall. "I'm an old man, Aerith. So old now…"

"You're only _forty-six_."

"I'm not in my prime anymore. I can't go around doing things like I used to." He clenched his fists in self-spiting anger. "The dam's busted now and an old engineer like me can't patch it," he said, eyes firm on the ground. "Aerith, darlin', you listen to me now… I can't say it to the lost boy whose hurting in ways I can never understand. Can't say it to him 'cause he's gone who knows where, and that's just one more screw up I have drilling me in the conscience. I can't say it to the others either 'cause I…" He trailed off and swallowed hard. "I can't even look 'em in the eyes after everything that's gone up in smokes! But…I want _you_ to know—you, the one who's always carrying love n' hope n' a whole lot of understanding in her heart—I want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm so damn sorry that I couldn't keep you kids safe like I had promised."

The last sentence came out strained as a tear streaked down Cid's face. More soon followed as tears gush passed the broken dam. All the pain, sorrow, and guilt he ever kept bottled inside himself from the moment he saw his first Heartless exploded and shook him to the core. With his heart crippled, Cid Highwind sniffled into his palms as burning tears flooded his reddening eyes.

"Cid, please!" Aerith hurried over to the older man, wrapping her comforting arms around his shoulders. "Calm down…" she soothed, but Cid showed no signs of allowing his grief to subside.

"Everything's slipped right through my fingers! I tried, didn't I? I tried to put things to right! But I can't protect anyone—can't even protect an egg in a box of pillows, that's how useless I am! The whole damn world's gone to Darkness and it's all my fault… This is Rabanastre all over again!"

"You think anyone blames _you_ for that?" Aerith gently pulled Cid's hands away and looked him straight in the eyes. "You're a good man, Cid—a father to us all. You've saved us, protected us when no one else would." She gave her foster father a kiss on the forehead before embracing him tightly. They sat there for a while, neither saying another word. As Cid continued his silent sobs, Aerith held him while praying a silent wish for Leon to hurry back with the answer to their survival.

"Everyone in town—all the moogles, all the puppies, all the kids…" Cid sniffled and wiped the blood that trickled from his unhealed nasal wound. "All because of my folly…"

"That's enough! I've said it before and I'll say it as many times as it takes until you understand: you may have helped create that cannon, but you are _not_ responsible for the actions of the people using it right now!"

The aged engineer would hear nothing of it. He was guilty. War and chaos created the Noventa Cannon, with blood, death, and sacrifice nurturing it throughout all its upgrades. And the one who helped give birth to such a destructive, monstrous weapon? Cid Highwind. He was guilty.

"Don't you see?" the engineer cried. "I gave it to 'em on a silver platter! _Of course_ it's all my fault!"

"You didn't have a choice!"

"I could've killed 'em instead. Could've fired it off instead of just forkin' the damn thing over like it was candy to be shared!"

"What about Rikku? She's safe because of what you and your colleagues did, and that means that the others are still alive too."

Cid scoffed. "Pfheh… You really believe that?"

"Don't deny that you do, too!"

"Well, that's _one_ consolation I can take with me to the other side…"

Aerith sighed and shook her head. "This isn't the end, Cid." She gave him a confident, hope-filled smile. "Leon will find a way. He always does."

Cid threw his head back and burst into wild, uncontained laughter.

"The pressure's gotten to you…"

"That's not it," Cid snickered with a shake of his head.

"Then what?"

"I just think," the weary man said while wiping away the final tear from his eye, "that since these are our final moments, you should take that boy to the side and have a good heart-to-heart with him."

"What do you mean?" Aerith asked, bewildered.

"Hey, you said I was a daddy to you all, right? Heh-heh, Daddy knows best, darlin'." Cid clutched his gut and continued laughing like a loon.

Aerith shrugged off the delusional man's nonsensical banter. But the lunacy was infectious, for within moments, she too began to chuckle. At least Cid wasn't crying anymore.

The two shared a nice moment of stress-induced laughter when the door swung open for their leader. "What's going on?" Leon demanded.

"Guys, guys! Have you seen the sky?" Yuffie shouted from behind Leon as she pushed her way in front to steal the show. "Looks like a volcano spewed lava all over the sky only to have Zeus strike it with a bunch of lightning bolts! You didn't invite the Olympians here for an impromptu meeting again, did'ya? 'Cuz if you remember the mess Poseidon made _last time_, Leon and I had to spend weeks draining the streets and re-irrigating the waterway! Not to mention clearing out that nasty infestation of slimy marine Heartless, yuck…"

"I'm asking the questions!" Leon roared, his nerves shot. "The whole place is a ghost town, Heartless are swarming everywhere, the sky's about ready to burn us alive—and what do I find? Two of my trusted teammates laughing up a storm underground!"

"It's not like that, Leon—" Aerith tried to explain, but the leader wouldn't hear it.

"I said _quiet!_" He shut her up real fast, yelling so loud that no noise dared to follow his last word. It wasn't his intention to act cruel or cold, Aerith knew, but his tone hurt her all the same. "I need answers and I need them _now_. All hell's breaking loose out there and if I'm going to be of any help to Sora, I need to know _exactly_ what we're dealing with."

"Eh? Sora…?" Cid rubbed the back of his head in bewilderment. What the heck did Leon care about some new kid on the street? "You're flipping your lid off for some _kid_? You should be ashamed of yourself yelling at the poor girl just for _that_!"

"He means the Keyblade master," Yuffie explained, and in so doing, sucked the doom and gloom right out of the room.

Cid fell off his crate and landed flat on his rear. "You mean that—he's the—_what?_"

"You've found him?" Aerith asked, the joy returning to her voice.

"Never mind about that," Leon growled. "What's with the sky? What have you learned?"

Aerith gazed over at Cid, who stood in stark contrast to his earlier behavior. Now tall with clear eyes and a firm countenance, the engineer took Aerith's words into his heart and threw all his hope behind her beliefs. "It's the Noventa Cannon," he said in a professional tone not at all hindered by emotion. "Turns out they rigged it to Hook's ship and he's had it aimed at us for a while now."

"Oh maaan!" Yuffie cried as she stumbled over to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup of joe. "I just _knew_ they'd be after Sora! Poor kid'll never be able to catch a break again if _this _is how the Order's gonna act for his first day on the job."

Leon furrowed his brows. "How much longer until it's fully charged?"

"Not much longer now," Cid replied. "But you said Sora's got the Key, yeah? Think he can pull some kind of Keyblade voodoo on their ship and blow it to smithereens before they fire?"

"I'm not sure if it works that way."

"Well he's gotta be able to do _something_!" Yuffie said between sips. "I mean, come on! What's one measly weapon of ultimate annihilation against a sword shaped like a key?" She took another sip, paused, and then gave a nervous laugh. "Erm…that didn't come out right…"

Leon turned for the door. "Unless you have a way to stop it, I'd better find Sora. He's the only chance we have right now." He left the room, keeping the second reason for his exit a secret. If they couldn't stop the cannon, Sora would die. Leon refused to let that happen. Kid or no, he swore to protect the Keyblade master no matter what. He would see him off that world in one piece, even at the risk of the whole town. Nothing mattered more to him than making the legend a reality, even if it were to become his final act.

After the door slammed behind their leader, Cid and the others gathered around the table. The Key had been found, and with it, a new source of hope. A chance remained—the slimmest possible chance—of averting a Noventa catastrophe. Even with all the odds stacked against them, they believed in the legend; they believed in the stories of their home from a life long past. What better last ditch effort than the legendary warrior said to hold the Key to the whole of creation in the palm of his hand?

"The question now is how do we stop those scurvy pirates from pickin' off the Keybearer before he gets the chance to kick their butts across space to the lost moon of Poosh?" Yuffie wondered as she poured herself another cup of coffee.

"Leave that to me," Cid said with a smirk. "Heh, I've got us a trump card."

Aerith furrowed her brows, annoyed by the confession. "You mean you've had a plan up your sleeve this whole time?"

"Hey, it's not like that! I can only _delay_ the cannon fire, not stop it. Way I saw it, there was no point to prolonging the inevitable considering no force in this world or the next could save our hides."

"Except the Keyblade master."

"Well how the heck was I supposed to know he'd show up just in the nick of time?" Cid opened the refrigerator and started emptying the middle tray. He tossed a plate of custard, several cans of soda, two cups of yogurt, and a half-eaten carrot stick out over his shoulder and then yanked out the whole tray. "There's a frequency I can patch into that'll force the cannon to discharge the electrical field built up around its G-series stabilizers. By doing that, it'll force the main OS into a reboot so it can recalibrate its position to compensate for the different readings."

Yuffie took a sip from her second cup and nodded. "Yup, I didn't understand a word of that."

"All you need to know is it'll buy the kid enough time to work his magic. And what's with all the coffee? Too much caffeine always gets you nuttier than usual."

"If you haven't noticed, we're pulling an all-nighter here. _Something_ has to keep me on my toes!"

"Just keep it to three cups, will ya? Now pipe down—I'm concentrating!" Pulling a screwdriver from his pocket, Cid kneeled his way into the fridge and unscrewed a camouflaged panel in the back. With the screw popped out, the panel dislodged itself allowing Cid access to a small compartment housing a tiny microchip wrapped in a sticky note. "I can only use this code once since the defense system's designed to adapt itself against sabotaging signals."

"Hurry, Cid!" Aerith urged, her eyes fixed on the ticking wall clock.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" With chip in hand, Cid rushed over to his transceiver and forced it open to reveal the circuitry. Placing the chip at the tip of his finger, he eased it into the circuit board where it snapped into an empty groove. He then closed the casing back up again and focused his attention on the sticky note. Several lines of code were scribbled in tiny print across the paper. Squinting his eyes, Cid matched the frequency on the radio to that scrawled on the paper. "That should do it…"

"Did it work?"

"Hold on a tick, would ya? I'm waiting for the feedback signal."

Everyone remained silent, harking their ears for any sign of fluctuation through the radio static. Seconds passed, then minutes. Finally, the sequential high-pitched squeals that would send any other trio running out of the room to shield their ears beeped through the speakers and the three Resistance fighters jumped with tears of joy and relief, relishing the shrieks that threatened to puncture their eardrums. With the system jammed and the Noventa Cannon forced into a reboot, the fate of Traverse Town rested with the Keyblade's chosen one.

* * *

Aboard the flagship of the Heartless Blockade, Captain Hook paced restless circles around his cabin quarters in wait of the attack that would wipe Traverse Town from the starscape. "Isn't that blasted cannon ready yet? What is _taking_ so long?" The cannon should have been primed and set to explode hours ago! Or at least, that's how the captain felt every passing second. The sooner the planet exploded and blew the Keyblade master to bits along with it, the sooner he could get Maleficent's vengeful magicks far, far away from his still-flesh hand.

A knock sounded at the door and sent Hook jumping towards the ceiling where he hit his head and knocked his hat clean off his crown. "Who's pounding on me door?" the jittery captain shouted, collecting his had and rushing to open the door for one of the pirate Heartless. "What in blazes do _you_ want? You've no business here! Hurry and fire that blasted cannon!"

The Heartless swayed its arms side-to-side, pausing every few motions to twirl the sword in its hand. It repeated the pattern of swaying and twirling a total of three times before shaking itself like a soda bottle and launching itself into the air.

Captain Hook's face went purple with fury as he interpreted the Heartless's charades. "What do you _mean_ the cannon's been stalled?" he shouted.

Landing back on its feet, the Heartless shrugged and bobbled its head.

"Well get back in there and _fix it_!"

The Heartless tapped its feet two times and shook its head.

"You scurvy Heartless! Can't you make the computer go faster?"

The Heartless shook its head.

"Then do everything you can to make sure this doesn't happen again!"

With a twirl of its sword, the Heartless shuffled back towards the command post.

"And make sure it _fires_ this time!" the captain added with an angry shake of his hook. He then slammed his door shut and kicked the nearby barrel of rum stored in the corner, stubbing his toe in the process. After hopping around in pain for a good minute, he ventured towards the window to gaze out at the world encircled by his fleet. "Blast that boy! He has the Devil's luck, but it'll run out soon. Oh, it _will_. He can't escape me fury forever!"

* * *

Axel heard a faint prayer in his head. It resonated in the back of his mind, almost as if fluttering through into his inner ear like a whisper. What the prayer said, he could not say for certain. But he knew it to be a cry from his healing heart—a desperate cry for survival. In their fragmented state, the few shards that composed Axel's heart prayed to his inner most instincts to disengage. On instinct, Axel would have run—he would have run far, far away and never stopped running until all threat of annihilation subsided. On instinct, Axel would not have cared about anyone other than himself—self-preservation alone mattered most. On instinct, he would have killed any hostiles, including the Resistance and the King's fools, in order to guarantee a smooth, unhindered escape from the locals.

But the prayer chanting its spell from deep within his healing light pleaded no. No more selfishness. The time for promoting his self-interest ended, and Axel followed Zack out the door of the Resistance's secret base to help avert the crisis.

Yet a whisper is vulnerable to louder forms of persuasion. Festering somewhere within Axel's shadow, an evil presence chanted its own desires, and the longer it went unchecked, the stronger its influence grew.

_Do it_.

"You say something?" Axel asked as he and Zack walked passed doors leading into the Second District.

"No, but I was about to." Zack stopped walking and waited for the double doors to close before speaking again. "Do you know what a Watcher Heartless is?"

"Haven't heard that name before, no," Axel replied with a shake of his head.

"They lurk in the shadows and carefully watch their surroundings."

"That's it?"

"That's it, unless provoked. Taking down a Watcher alerts any superior Heartless in the area that there are warriors nearby, prompting them to attack."

"So why tell me all this?"

"I sensed a Watcher outside our base. It's likely one of Hook's flunkies released it."

Axel crossed his arms. "You think he knows the Resistance is here?"

"No one's attacked us specifically yet; the fleet's aiming at the world in its entirety. For all Hook knows, we're just having one heck of a party in that house, and everyone's coming and going with various party goods." Zack paused and then added, "I'd like to keep it that way."

"You don't want me to attack it, huh?"

"Listen, Axel," Zack said, again donning the commanding tone that gave proof of his status as an experienced soldier. "No one knows where the Resistance is based. It'll remain that way unless a Watcher is attacked—then they'll know capable warriors are here and that'll give them more reason to shoot us."

"All right." Though he didn't care much about the Resistance, Axel wanted to avoid adding further complications to the situation. He wasn't in any hurry to get himself blown to bits.

"Good." Zack paused again, this time to relax his posture back into its casual groove. "One more thing…"

"What is it _now_? Don't we have a cannon to stop?"

"I want you to know something, Axel. I really _do_ believe you."

"You shouldn't be so trusting."

"I can tell when people are lying to me," Zack insisted. "If I couldn't, I wouldn't be alive right now." The way he said it, Axel almost believed him. _Almost_. But not even the best-trained psychologist in all the worlds could determine a lie from the truth just by looking a guy in the eyes.

"And what if you're dealing with a master pretender, Mr. Human-Lie-Detector? What then?"

Zack shook his head. "I can tell when you're lying, Axel," he reaffirmed, convinced of what Axel deemed a crazed, self-delusion. "That's why I knew you weren't responsible for the cannon."

Axel didn't believe the sap for a second. He wanted to laugh in the guy's face and then run off to find Sora. But then Zack said something else—something that made him wonder.

"That's also why I never bought your island-getaway story. I was right the first time, wasn't I? You wanted to beat the Heartless to Destiny Islands—you wanted to shield someone from their attack."

Axel scoffed. "Oh, please."

"You wanted to find someone before they did, but you were too late. That's why you didn't protest coming here to Traverse Town, knowing it's the world where all wayward hearts come to escape the darkness. You came here in search of someone very important, and now I know who that someone is."

_He knows_._ Do it._

Axel eyed Zack, his mind furiously shifting through numerous counterattack strategies. "What now?" he wondered. How would he act, what would he do? Kill Zack? Make a run for it? Cough up the truth? First the duck, then the cannon, and now the soldier: the setbacks kept piling up for Axel, and for the first time, he doubted he could escape town with the Keyblade unnoticed. His plans crumbled.

"Why didn't you tell me, Axel?" Zack asked, the disappointment clear in his voice. "Don't you trust me?"

Axel clenched his jaw and took to leaning against a nearby building. "It's not that simple."

"He's the _Keyblade master_, for goodness sake! You know how desperate we've been to find him!"

"Hey, you're the lie detector, right? Take my word for it: it's not that simple."

"I…believe you…" Zack let out a sigh and massaged his forehead. "Where is he now?"

"I'd like to say the First, but with all this cannon-Heartless-pirates hoopla going on, I'll bet anything he's smack in the center of it by now."

"That why you followed me out?"

"Heh." Axel pushed from the building and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You need the Keyblade to stop Hook, and wherever the Keyblade master goes, I go. Get it?"

"To guard him?"

Axel started walking again. "What do you think?" He brushed past Zack, venturing further into the Second District until he reached the corner leading towards the plaza. He stopped, freezing in place with his eyes wide.

_He knows too much. Kill him._

"What is it?" Zack asked, jogging up behind him. "Is something wrong?" When Axel wouldn't answer, he tried to peer over the man's shoulder to get a better view. But the second he got too close, Axel shoved him away. "Hey, what are you—"

With lightning reflexes, Axel spun on his heel and slapped his hand over Zack's mouth. "Shut up!" he hissed. Before Zack could utter a sound, Axel grabbed him and forced him up against the wall. They stared at each other in the eyes, Axel putting those lie detecting abilities to the test. "We need to climb to the roof," he whispered, praying Zack would get the message and play follower without another word.

Zack furrowed his brows as he searched Axel's eyes, and then gave a swift nod before turning around and tiptoeing back the way he came.

_Do it. His back is to you. Do it now._

Sweat glistened from Axel's forehead as he watched Zack leave. Something was draining him of his energy, but he couldn't pinpoint the cause. With no time to spare, he pushed everything out of his mind except one goal—and to achieve it, he had to get to the roof. He followed Zack, and together, the two backtracked to the doors leading to the Second. They found a groove within a nearby brick wall and used it as the first stepping-stone. Jumping from groove, to window, and then onto a nearby ledge, they reached their destination with little trouble.

Once on the roof of the Dress & Suit shop, Axel signaled Zack to get down on his belly and crawl towards the edge to overlook the plaza. The two wormed their way across the roof shingles until Zack finally understood the reason for Axel's discretion. Just below the two onlookers, Sora was engaged in a heated battle against first mate Smee and his ragtag team of Heartless buccaneers. Cutlasses went flying in every direction, trying to keep up with the agile Keybearer as he dodged, jumped, and rolled away from the mob of pirates. Where the swords failed, the anchor more than compensated. Laser bullets shot out of the barrel attached to the far end of the crown, and when Sora went into a mad dance to dodge them, Smee used the opportunity to swing his weapon round and launch it with impeccable momentum. Sora barely managed to escape unscathed from the jagged spikes jutting out of the anchor, and large tears cut all across his clothes.

The last incision made into Sora's jacket was too close for comfort. It was all Zack could endure. He clenched his fist and prepared to spring off the roof, but Axel beat him to the punch. With a snap of his fingers, Axel summoned an aura of vibrant, red flames to envelope his arm. In one fluid motion, he channeled all his energy into his arm and whisked it through the air, launching the fire smack into the fray. An enormous, scorching firestorm erupted in the middle of the plaza, forcing a fire wall divide between the Keyblade master and his shadowy opponents.

"What the…?" Sora knitted his brows in confusion. But before he could better inspect the inferno, a hand tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped and jerked around in full defense.

"Whoa, take it easy," Axel said, he hands up in mock surrender.

"Axel, it's you!"

"Yeah, yeah. Howdy-doo to you, too. Listen, no time for chitchat. We've gotta run."

"What?"

"Run!" Axel grabbed Sora's hand and yanked the befuddled Keybearer away towards the First District.

"What are you doing?" Zack exclaimed, jumping down to cut off Axel's path. "We should finish this!"

"If you want to stop that cannon from blowing this place to smithereens, we need to do this the smart way." Axel gave Sora another yank before he could question anything, and used his free hand to grab hold of Zack. "Come on!" he shouted, wanting to get out while the fire still shielded them from Smee.

The three warriors ran for the doors leading into the First District while the Heartless furiously whacked away at the flames in a sad attempt to extinguish them with their swords. When the fire died down and the smoke cleared, the Keyblade master was nowhere in sight. Smee chucked his anchor into the ground as steam blew out his ears. "Find him, boys!" he ordered in a fury. "He can't get away!" The Heartless bowed and staggered off to once again scour the Second District.

Meanwhile, just behind the large, double doors connecting the First and Second Districts, Sora glared with confused, defiant eyes at the man who helped him battle a colossal Heartless in the past. "Why did you do that, Axel?" he demanded. "I almost had them beat!"

"We've got bigger fish to fry than a pot-bellied first mate," Axel replied. "This whole world's about to bite the big one, and the fat man's been sent to distract you from the real bad boy."

Sora raised his eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"See that pretty red sky up there? It's not supposed to be all lit up like a festival at 12AM in the morning—or ever in this place since it's always night in Traverse Town."

"Meaning…?"

"It's the result of a doomsday weapon aimed directly at this world, and it'll blow everyone and everything to teeny-tiny bits in the blink of an eye unless we figure out how to stop it right now."

"Are you serious?" Sora all but shouted, his eyes growing wide enough to sting from increased exposure the cool air.

"Dead serious. Just ask the soldier boy over there," Axel said with a thumb-jerk in Zack's direction.

Zack, who had remained dead quiet since entering the First, stared at Sora for the longest time. Tears started welling up in his eyes the longer he looked, and the whole situation made Sora rather uneasy.

"Umm…who is this guy?" Sora asked.

"He's—"

"It's you!" Zack interjected with such cheer in his voice that it was enough to make anyone forget the impending doom facing the world. "It's _really_ you!" Before Sora could react, Zack rushed up to him and gave the kid a big bear hug. "Ha, ha! You're the Keyblade master!" he cried with joy. "My name's Zack Fair, and let me just say, it's an honor to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too," Sora replied with a nervous chuckle. "I'm Sora."

"Sora, we've been waiting for you a long time. The Resistance needs your help."

"Resistance…? Oh! Are you friends with Leon?"

Zack's smile stretched three times wider across his face. "Wow! You're good! You're better than good! Just…wow!"

"Huh?"

"Look at you!" Zack reached out and clapped Sora's cheeks. "Just look at you! You haven't been here for more than a few hours and you're already getting down to business—meeting with our leader, ridding the streets of Heartless, taking on the Order! You're every bit the legend I thought you'd be!"

Sora rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile. "I'm not really a legend…"

"Don't be so modest!"

_Kill them both. They're both in the way of what you really want. Do it._

Axel clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Okay, okay! Enough! Remember the Noventa Cannon? It's still aimed to fry us all, and your happy-go-lucky outbursts aren't getting us any closer to a solution."

"Oh, right!" Zack stood at attention and saluted the Keybearer. "Sir, forgive my excitement. We have an emergency situation—one that begs for your aid and assistance." He gave a quick overview of the town's plight and the destructive capabilities of the Noventa Cannon, to which Sora listened with increasing worry.

"How am I supposed to stop something like _that_…?" he wondered. It was one thing taking on a giant Heartless—that fight didn't restrict him to a time limit and the opponent didn't launch its attacks from a guarded position in outer space.

"It's a tough nut to crack, but where there's a will, there's a way. Plus it doesn't hurt having the Keyblade on our side." Zack gave Sora another broad smile, which made him feel a bit more confident knowing that he had another ally to help against the Heartless.

"Does Leon know about this? He didn't mention it to me…"

Zack shook his head. "We have to find and tell him."

"He should be somewhere around here," Sora said, looking around to see if he could spot the man. "We split up before, and he said he'd come back to protect this district."

"If that's the case, he's probably near the shop!" Zack signaled his two friends to follow him as he raced for the Accessory shop, but they didn't need to go far before their target found them.

"It's you." Leon slowed his pace as he approached the trio. "Listen, there's been an incident. This world isn't safe for you."

"I know," Sora replied. "Zack and Axel told me."

"You know about the cannon?"

Sora nodded.

"Does the Keyblade possess a power to disable it from here?"

"Err…I don't think so."

Leon closed his eyes and folded his arms, once again transporting himself into the whirlwind of worries devastating his heart. "Then it's worse than I feared."

"Hey now, don't say that!" Zack gave Leon a light punch to the shoulder to snap him out of his pessimism. "He's only just learned about it, Leon. Give him some time to actually try."

"Time?" Leon opened his eyes to leer at his comrade. "_Time_? We don't _have_ time, Zack! The whole world's set to blow in a handful of minutes and we don't even know what the Keyblade's capable of!"

"No time like the present to find out," Zack countered.

"Our time's better spent in figuring out a way off this world!"

"No…not again. We can't just leave these innocent people to die. Not again!"

"You think I don't feel the same way? But we don't have a choice. We _need_ to survive. Sora and the Resistance are necessary if we ever want this war to end."

They continued arguing back and forth—one fighter promoting hope and optimism, while the other declared the battle lost and advised a quick retreat. All the while, Sora looked on with a heavy heart, feeling helpless to do anything. Everyone expected so much of him. Because he wielded the Keyblade, the Resistance made him out to be a type of legendary hero—even a god. But he was just a kid—a kid that lost his homeworld and friends, and didn't know what to do with the powers given to him. All the responsibilities that came with the Keyblade—he wondered, how to fulfill them, or even if he could.

Yet through all the fears and doubts, through all the mayhem and danger, he knew one thing for sure: someone had to stop the Heartless. Someone had to protect the people. He thought back to everyone he met in Traverse Town—kind Mr. Cid with his crumbly cookies; those persistent little ducks with their assortment of a odd goods; gruff and tough Leon with his quirky ninja friend Yuffie, the First District's valiant protectors; all the playful puppies filled with such warmth; Anita, who clung onto the myths of a hero while worrying for her husband's safety; gung-ho Zack who burst at the seams with childlike happiness; and Axel who fought towering, ferocious monsters with a relentless, fiery passion.

All the people he met upon his arrival to Traverse Town were in danger. If not from the cannon, then from the darkness. He wanted to protect those people—he wanted to fight for them so they wouldn't have to live in fear anymore. The Keyblade chose him as protector of the light, and he chose to accept that fate.

"There has to be another way," Sora protested, now joining the argument.

"There isn't," Leon stated.

"Leon, I'm not leaving this world to die!"

"You have to."

"No."

Throughout the entire argument, Axel didn't hear a single word. No one even noticed that he had yet to participate in the debate; they were all too caught up in making their own points to notice Axel, who stood far apart from the ring of three fighters holding his throbbing head. In his ears he heard nothing of the world's fate or the Keyblade master's inexperience to tackle such an impossible situation. Only two words echoed in his mind: _Do it_.

* * *

Darkness everywhere. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but darkness. Axel stood alone amidst it, all his senses numb save for his hearing. A voice called out to him, tempting him from the infinite expanse of shadows.

_Do it_.

"No…"

_Do it_.

"No!" Axel clutched at his head, fighting the voice with all his might. But nothing he did lessened the power each word held over him.

_Do it. Kill him. You must kill him to get what you want_.

"I'm not killing my best friend!" Flames exploded from Axel's body, chasing the darkness away with its light. He heaved labored breaths as sweat trickled down his forehead only to evaporate into steam from the extreme heat. It took every ounce of strength in him to repel the beckoning voice of the tempter, and it worked until a new sound replaced the voice.

A series of footsteps sounded nearby, followed by the clanking of armor. The familiar frame of the Messenger marched into the light, his black and silver armor tinted by the crackling, red flames.

"Heh…" Axel panted with a weary, self-spiting smirk. "I should've known."

"I am the Messenger," the armored man announced as he drew still closer.

"I know who you are! What do you want?"

"I bring a message." The Messenger stopped before Axel and angled his body to the side. Extending his long, muscular arm, he pointed his finger into the darkness. "This is a message…from your past."

Axel scoffed. "Don't tell me it's 50-foot tall Xemnas complete with prehistoric caveman accessories."

The Messenger didn't answer or flinch, but maintained his position.

There was a pause then, as if time froze to allow Axel a prolonged period of inner peace before a malevolent storm thundered in to shake his world and destroy everything his budding heart strived to achieve. He turned his head to humor the Messenger, thinking that no matter what the armored zombie threw at him next, it would pale in comparison to the last ordeal. The second his eyes looked towards the darkness, the tempting voice boomed again in his ears.

_Do it. Kill Sora._

"I told you: there's no way I'm killing my best friend!"

"But, Axel…" said a new voice that called out from the shadows. Another set of footsteps tapped closer to the light and Axel's eyes went wide with shock and anger. "I thought _I_ was your best friend."

"What kind of game are you playing at?" Axel's nostril flared up in a snarl as he turned to look back at the Messenger. But the man had long vanished after delivering his message, leaving Axel alone with a phantom born from the shadows in his heart. "Always gets going with the going gets tough. Pfft!" More beads of sweat rolled down his neck as he turned his enflamed body to fully face the new arrival. "You're not real," he stated flat out, not in the mood to play the Messenger's games.

"Of course you'd say that—you, the guy who gave up fighting to free me. It must be so easy denying that I exist when you're running around pretending to be a Somebody."

Axel rolled his eyes. "If you want to pull off a decent guilt trip, at least get the facts straight: whether you're real or not doesn't matter. Standing there telling me I'm denying your _existence_ is a dead giveaway on its own."

"Nobodies don't exist."

"Bingo."

"But I do." He took another step towards Axel, the silver zipper along his black cloak jiggling with the sudden motion. "I have a heart—you know that. I'm the exception to the rule."

Something in that place burned more of Axel's energy than necessary to maintain the fire. It was as though an invisible presence forced its hand down in an effort to crush him into the darkness. The more the pressure he felt against him, the more strength Axel consumed to keep himself standing, yet alone protected. "You're not Roxas," he said, heaving deep breaths as he fought to fuel his fiery shield.

"How can you be so sure?" the phantom boy asked, taking another step closer for the fire to better illuminate his face. With eyes as blue as the ocean and golden hair combed into a spiky swirl, everything down to the last detail matched the image Axel held of Roxas in his heart. He couldn't stand to look at him.

Axel turned his head to the side to stare back into the infinite black, back into the darkness—to look anywhere but at that face. "You can't be. Sora's still alive."

"You really believe he and I are the same person?"

"I was stupid for ever thinking otherwise," Axel uttered, his voice dejected and weighed by regret.

"Axel, you really are stupid," the phantom chortled. He circled around Axel like a predator stalking its prey.

"Oh, looky here! A figment of my imagination's trying to get under my skin. It won't work." He would've spat at the phantom, but his mouth was too dry. The pressure in that place continued to pound down relentlessly all around him, and he wondered how much longer he could keep conscious. Spreading apart his legs, Axel tried repositioning himself to better fight against the increasing weight pressing into every inch of his body, but the gesture did little to comfort him. His head started to ache and his vision melted into a blur, but he could still see Roxas. Each time the phantom completed another lap around, Axel saw his face as clear as day. It was Roxas, no doubt about it—and that meant trouble, because even a phony impersonation could hold the same influence as the genuine article in that place. In the darkness where the only light visible flickered from Axel's shattered heart, nothing could protect the ailing man from the shadows of his past.

"You don't really believe we're the same person," the phantom continued. "It's a lie you tell yourself so that when you look back on your death, it's comforting to think you didn't fail to save me."

"I didn't fail. I saved Sora."

"That's right. _Sora_. You saved _Sora_—not me, but him."

"You're the same!" Axel shouted in frustration. He wanted the voice to stop, to shut up!

"Then why do you refer to us by two different names?"

Axel was panting heavier now. No matter how much air he sucked in—even to the point of hurting his lungs—it failed to sustain him. Disoriented and weak, he was left vulnerable to the phantom's verbal abuses.

"We always used to watch the sunset together while eating sea salt ice cream. We'd laugh while telling stories or jokes, and we'd have a great time. You said we were best friends."

"We are."

"But then you let DiZ capture me."

"That's a lie!"

"You let him trap me in the digital town, and did nothing while I was forced back into Sora."

"You _wanted_ to find Sora!" Axel rasped, collapsing to one knee. "You wanted answers and the Organization couldn't give them to you—_I_ couldn't give them to you. I let you leave that day…because you wanted to." A tear dropped from his eye and burst into steam. "…I let you go even though it hurt to see you leave."

"Nothing could hurt you—you don't have a heart."

"I _do_ have a heart!"

"What you have is a tiny, insignificant piece of a dead, broken memory. You're a Nobody, Axel, and you felt nothing for me while I was imprisoned within a body that's rightfully mine."

"I stuck my _neck_ out for you. They were going to kill you. They wanted to kill me, too. But I…" Axel shut his eyes real tight, his fiery aura waning in strength. He shook his head with gritted teeth. "Nothing mattered to me anymore. I wanted…to turn Sora into a Heartless, but I—"

"But you didn't."

"No, I—"

"You left me to rot in there—to sleep the eternal sleep while you went and sacrificed yourself for _him_."

"I sacrificed myself for_ you!_ You're the same person!"

"You don't really believe that." The phantom broke his circular pattern. "Look at me, Axel," he said, now standing right in front of Axel.

"No."

"Look at me."

"Get away from me, you fake."

"Look at me." A black, leather gloved hand grabbed Axel's chin and forced his head up to face the phantom. "What's my name?"

"You don't have one," Axel growled, his weakened voice almost a whisper.

"Who am I?"

"An illusion."

"Who am I, Axel?" the phantom persisted, tightening his grip. "Which name do you associate with this face?"

"Get out of here or I'll…" Axel made to stand, but his other knee buckled.

"Or you'll what?" The phantom watched with amusement as Axel feebly fumbled about trying to regain his balance. But the more he struggled, the more energy he wasted and the already dying flames continued to fade. "You're pathetic, Axel. You can't even hold your ground in the darkness anymore. No wonder you let me die—you were too much of an invalid to do anything about it."

"I didn't let you die!"

"Who am I?"

"A pesky brat!"

The phantom kicked Axel flat on his back and pressed his boot hard against his chest, further increasing his rate of suffocation. "Say my name and this ends."

The faint sparks of ember still radiating from Axel turned blue. His flame was dying. Even the phantom's face blurred into the muddied mesh of an image splattered across his field of vision.

"Who am I, Axel?"

He couldn't take it anymore—not the pressure, the pain, the suffocation, the darkness. It had to stop. It all had to stop! "R…Roxas…"

"What's that?" the phantom said, cupping his ear and leaning closer as if he didn't hear the answer. "Say it again."

"Y-you're…you're Roxas…" Axel sputtered with what little breath remained.

With a sinister grin, the phantom lifted his boot. "Who's your best friend?"

"You are…_Roxas._"

"Who took me away from you?"

"…Sora."

"And how do you fix everything?"

Axel lay flat on his back, his glazed, dilated eyes fixed towards the infinite black sky. He could barely breathe, even with the boot gone, and his body ached in places he never deemed possible. Whatever prayer chanted within his head upon the advent of his journey ceased guiding his steps, leaving nothing but a foreboding silence that welcomed the voice of the tempter.

"Kill Sora."

The last flicker of flame protecting Axel with its light extinguished, and the darkness swallowed him whole.

* * *

"There has to be another way!"

"There isn't."

Axel opened his eyes and found himself massaging his temple. It took him a while to blink away the haziness, and when he did, it took still more time to get his bearings straight. The past few minutes were a blur, and try as he may, he couldn't remember why the others were pecking each other raw. But it didn't take him long to get a grip on the situation.

"Don't you understand what's going on here?" Leon said, his face rigid and stern. "You're the only one in the whole universe with the means to stop the Heartless. If you stay here, the cannon will destroy you and that'll be the end of everyone's hope. Everyone's future will end because the Keyblade master will be no more."

"_These_ peoples' future will end if I abandon them right now," Sora contended. "You said it yourself: I'm the Keyblade master. It's my _job_ to protect people from the Heartless, and right now, Heartless forces are aiming to blow this town to bits unless I can do something about it."

"What do you intend to do?"

"I…don't know yet."

"Oh? And when exactly _will_ you know? We're on a time limit here."

Sora furrowed his brows without a reply.

"No answer? Then that settles it. We're going." Leon turned around, signaling the others to follow him.

But Sora didn't budge. "…No."

Leon spun back around, setting his infuriated eyes on the defiant kid. "Then we'll do it the hard way again!" he roared, unsheathing his Gunblade and charging towards the Keyblade master.

On reflex, Sora summoned the Keyblade and held it up to parry the oncoming strike. But it never came. The clanking of metal on metal echoed out, but Sora didn't feel the recoil. He lowered his weapon and opened his confused eyes to see Axel standing before him with his chakrams holding off the Gunblade.

"Don't you touch him." Axel stared Leon dead in the eyes, freezing the man in place with a glare that rivaled his own.

Leon retracted his Gunblade. "Do you want to die here?"

"Do_ you_?" Axel retorted with a twirl of his chakrams. He meant business, and Leon hesitated to act for fear of starting a fight that would last until the cannon's discharge. The two warriors stared each other down while Zack watched from the sidelines without a definite solution to calm the atmosphere and get Leon to agree to a new tactic.

"Axel, please…!" Sora begged from behind the warrior.

Axel craned his neck towards Sora. Looking into the kid's eyes, a strange emotion washed over him—one that sickened him. He never experienced such a thing in the past, but he lacked the time to ponder over it.

"You've helped me defeat that huge Heartless—a monster so big, it seemed impossible to beat," Sora continued. "I can't just abandon these people, and I know if we put our heads together again, we'll be able to take on the cannon."

Eyes averted to the ground, Axel took in a deep breath and exhaled. He needed a plan, and fast, or else things were going to get messy. So he took a moment to think—to review over the whole situation, and as he did so, all the pieces started falling into place. "So let me get this straight… We have three priorities: the first is to stop the cannon from destroying this place, the second is to get the cannon far away from here, and the third is to keep you Resistance guys off the radar. Am I right?"

"That about sums it up, yeah," Zack nodded.

"Okay." Axel put away his chakrams. He had an idea. "Listen to me very carefully," he said, meeting everyone's gaze. "If you want those three things to happen, you need to do _precisely _as I say. Understand?" He again looked Sora dead in the eyes and resisted the reflex to cringe by overpowering it with the will to survive. "You have to do everything I say without question."

"I trust you, Axel," Sora said, making the man even sicker to his stomach.

Axel nodded and turned to Leon. "What about you?"

"You have a plan?" the Resistance leader asked, shouldering his Gunblade.

"Only if you'll listen."

"Make it quick."

"We trick Hook. He came here looking for the Keyblade master, and he'll leave if he thinks he's chasing the kid offworld."

"How?"

"Fake Sora's escape. Have it look like he's flying out, and the armada follows."

"The Heartless will shoot any ship that exits the atmosphere."

"You Resistance guys have a bunch of spare ships, right? Use them to lure the Heartless away from the main decoy ship."

Leon holstered his Gunblade and crossed his arms in contemplation. "That…might work… But it's missing something. There's nothing preventing Hook from destroying the town before chasing the dummy."

"I've got that worked out, too. But I'll need to talk to Cid."

"Fine. Let's go." Leon gave the signal, and everyone rushed for the underground meeting room.

"Don't _do_ that!" Yuffie exclaimed as the door shot open and banged against the wall to allow the four new arrivals entry. But no one paid her any mind, and Leon just brushed right past her.

"Cid, we need to talk," the leader ordered. "Now."

Everyone gathered together while Axel repeated his strategy, this time in further detail. "The only way this is going to work is if we use that warp gummi in Zack's ship," he explained. "If we set it to launch just after Hook picks it up on radar, he'll have no choice but to drop everything or else risk losing its signal."

Cid resisted the urge to flick his injured nose while he mulled over the idea. "It'd work in theory, but if he could follow the kid from his island to here by tracking his Keyblade signature, I'm worried he'll see through our act."

"That's why we need to give these guys a good scare—so they'll neglect their instruments."

"How the heck do you plan on pulling _that_ off?"

"A mock fight."

Leon furrowed his brows. "Against whom?"

"Sora versus me, one-on-one right in front of Smee. I'll pretend to be one of Maleficent's undercover agents, and when Sora makes a run for 'his ship', I'll march straight up to the Watcher in the Third and give Hook such a scare that he'll go running to sleep with the crocodiles tonight. They haven't seen my face and they don't know my style. I know how these people tick—where to apply pressure to get the best results—and if I play my cards right, it should go off without a hitch."

"You want us to fight?" Sora asked.

Axel nodded. "I'm acting as the clean-up crew. If we can convince them that Maleficent isn't pleased with their performance, and that it's because of their incompetence that you've escaped, Hook wouldn't dare waste time firing the cannon. He'll drop everything and chase the warp-equipped ship for the sake of his remaining limbs."

"You really think they'll fall for it?"

"The guy's willing to blow up an entire world just to make sure he gets you, meaning the witch is already steamed with his failure at the Outer Rim. Make him think she's even angrier, and he won't stop to think twice about it."

"Hmm…" Sora turned his gaze towards the Resistance members. "What do you think, guys? I see no problems with it."

"I do," said Cid, spitting the reed from his mouth. "If we can't throw this plan together within the next twenty minutes, Noventa'll enter the final charge stage and it won't disengage until it's fired."

"Then we have to hurry!" Yuffie cried. "Come on, come on! Get those ships! Start fighting! _Move it!_"

But of course, no one moved to do anything. All eyes fell on Leon, who had the final say in the matter.

"Well, Leon?" Aerith asked. "What do you think?"

Their leader leaned against the wall as per his usual fashion, with his arms crossed and his face twisted with worried contemplation. It was a long shot, he had to admit, but it was a plan nonetheless. It gave them all hope—gave _him_ hope, even if he didn't want to admit it out loud. So he pushed off the wall and gave the nod to start the process, because no other option remained save for total annihilation.

Cid clapped his hands together. "Okay, kids—time to put it in motion! Yuffie, Leon—I'll need you two in the garage. Bust a move and get on over there!"

"Aye, aye, Cid!" Yuffie gave a salute and spun herself out the door while Leon wordlessly tagged behind her.

"Hey," Axel called before Cid could follow them, "you got any spare clothes I can rummage through?"

"What for? This is a fight, not a fashion show! We don't have time for you to be playing dress-up. Now quit yer yappin' and get out there!"

"This isn't for the catwalk, Cid. If you want a _proper_ decoy, I need to look the part or else roly-poly cabin boy out there won't fall for it even if he tossed on a couple of eye patches. Now do you have any dark, depressing duds or not?"

"Well, _I_ don't, but…" Cid rubbed the back of his head and shifted his eyes towards Aerith.

There was a long pause where Aerith took in a deep breath and held it for a while before slowly releasing it. "Come this way, Axel," she said, brushing past him towards the exit.

Zack started after her, his forehead wrinkled with concern. "Hey, you don't mean…?" He turned and ran upstairs. "Wait for me!" All the while Axel watched with eyebrows raised.

"What should I be doing?" Sora asked before Axel could leave. There was an awkward pause where Axel's eye twitched for but a second and his face went rigid. They were alone in the room since Cid ran off for the garage as soon as Zack cleared the passageway, and the freedom from watchful eyes begged temptation to act. "Is something wrong?"

Axel curled his hands into tight fists. "No…" he uttered, his tone bordering on emotionless. "Just…stay here and wait. You'll know when it's time."

"Are you worried? You don't seem as…energetic anymore—like you used to be."

"I don't know." He stared at his fists, gauging the invisible weight they each held. They wanted to smack against flesh, he knew. The desire to swing them pulsed through his veins, and he continued staring at them with diminishing self-control.

Axel's abnormal behavior worried the Keybearer. He moved to touch his friend on the shoulder, but he flinched away the second he saw the hand. "You're really on edge! Don't worry so much, Axel. We'll get through this. With everyone's help and the two of us teaming up like before, everything will work out just fine. You'll see."

"I just don't know." Axel closed his eyes, pocketing his fists before they could do any damage and started for the stairs. The door closed softly behind him, leaving Sora all alone to fret over his troubled friend.

* * *

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

Tell me I'm broken. Go on; say it! If we're going to talk about the race to save Traverse Town—about the battle that ensued—then I know you won't just leave it at the outcome. You're here to make a point, so make it.

They've all said it to me—some multiple times. I'm a broken man. I'm the walking dead. I'm an anomaly in need of immediate deletion. I'm a hazard to all those around me. I'm the lingering sickness from a world long-gone. Darkness fills in the cracks meant for the light, and that's why I'm unworthy to be _anywhere_ near him—unworthy and _dangerous_.

I've heard it all.

So go on and say it. Tell me I'm broken. _**Say those words!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Are you comfortable doing this?"

"To be honest, I'm not."

"I'll take him alone, then. You don't have to go in there if you don't want to."

Aerith shook her head. She sat along the steps leading up to the Accessory Shop while Zack leaned against a nearby signpost. Both waited for Axel to emerge from the shop so they could get their battle strategy against the Noventa Cannon underway. "No, that's alright," Aerith said. "I've been avoiding it for too long now. Besides, if you're there with me, we can endure the pain together."

Zack paused to cross his arms and shift his weight. "Yeah, okay." He looked out into the deserted streets and scanned the emptied tables within the nearby open-area café, wondering if the chef finished stewing the night's specialty soup before he ran for his life. After the fight, Zack planned to go grab a bowl. For the main course, he thought about treating himself to a juicy steak fresh off the grill; no one served filet mignon like the guys in Traverse Town. The chef _did_ remember to close the fridge before evacuating, didn't he? If not, all the ice cream would melt and that'd ruin any plans for dessert.

"Are _you_ okay, Zack?"

"Huh?"

"Your tone…it's so detached—almost emotionless."

Zack blinked his disinterested eyes, and then, as if struck by lightning, he jolted away from the signpost and sprang back to life with an exaggerated chuckle. "_Me_, emotionless? That's ridiculous! It's just the stress," he assured her with a quick grin. "It's not every day we're staring down the barrel of the Noventa Cannon. Hard to cope, you know?"

Aerith took a moment to consider his words, knowing instinctively that something troubled him. She studied him for a moment, taking the time to really look at him now that they were alone together. It had been a long time since she last saw Zack; months passed since his last delivery of gummi blocks and supplies to the Traverse Town base, yet his outward appearance didn't much change. He seemed as energetic and gung-ho as always, though whenever he stood idle without conversation or activity to occupy his attention, his face went blank—a trait she noticed in him only in recent years when he first established his strict dress code.

Ever since he donned that dark indigo uniform, he never seemed to part with it. She remembered the day she first saw him wearing it: he had returned from an unannounced journey to the edge of the Core Cluster after disappearing without a word for many months and leaving Aerith and the others to fear for the worst. That was the day she knew something had changed within him. He returned to Traverse Town with shaggier hair, a scarred face, and with as many blades as he could strap to his new uniform. When Aerith first saw him again, she noticed his pale, worn complexion and it brought her to tears when she looked into his hollow eyes.

Something terrible happened to Zack, she knew, but no matter how many times she pressed him for answers, he would only offer her an empty smile and assure her that there was nothing to worry about. But his blatant lies only served to drive a wedge between the two friends. Every time he smiled or laughed, Aerith felt an awful sadness puncture her heart as though she had lost her closest friend. None of that outward joy he presented came close to matching the memories she held of his earlier smiles and laughter, which used to swell up inside of him and flow out with such ease. Now, it seemed as though he was trying too hard.

Whatever happened to Zack on that journey either hardened his heart or warped it beyond recognition, because he ceased being the Zack she grew so fond of in the past.

"You know you can always talk to me, Zack," Aerith said in a gentle voice. "I don't get to see you much anymore since you've taken that job for Cid, but you're still a dear friend and I'm here for you. So please…don't keep everything inside anymore."

"Thanks, Aerith. But really—I'm fine." He smiled again using that same smile that fooled everyone except her.

Aerith opened her mouth to reply, but she gasped instead when a puddle of darkness flooded in and swelled along the ground. Within seconds, dozens of Heartless sprang from out of the shadows. Sensing the Keyblade nearby, they hobbled towards the shop with their claws at the ready to break into the place. But instead of meeting the wooden door, their claws clanked against metal as Zack parried the shadows with his two backswords. He twirled the blades in his hands and sliced clean through the first wave of Heartless.

When the next wave jumped to ambush him from behind, he spun on heel and swung his swords to knock back the airborne terrors. Without missing a beat, he tossed his swords high into the air and quickly drew the two daggers from his belt to flick at the remaining shadows still at a distance. They dispersed into wisps of darkness while the backswords twirled in midair and nosedived back into their scabbards without a hitch.

The Heartless forces fell thin, but reinforcements soon arrived in the form of the tougher Neoshadows and pirates. Unsheathing the two broadswords at his sides, Zack charged into action and met the pirate cutlasses head-on. Sparks went flying as metal met metal. Zack's expert form kept the Heartless on their toes as he pushed them farther from Aerith and the shop. A Neoshadow came up to claw him from behind, but he jerked around and slashed it in midair with one sword while the other sword skewered two pirates.

More Neoshadows pooled in and lunged at Zack. They fell upon him like a pack of wild animals with their frenzied claws tearing into the tough fabric of his uniform. He could do little to strike at the creatures as they batted his swords out of his grip. When the pile of feral shadows forced him to the ground, he struggled to maneuver his tangled arms towards one of the four hunting knives strapped to either side of his survival vest. The Heartless dug their claws deep into his shoulder blades, but regardless of the pain surging down his arms, he worked his hands closer to his chest until his twitching fingers wrapped around the handle of a knife. In one fell motion, he clenched the handle and tugged the knife out to cut the nearest Neoshadow. But the Heartless weighed down his arms and prevented the jagged blade from causing damage.

As Zack struggled to free himself from the mob, Aerith stood her ground dead in front of the door to bar any shadows from getting too close to the shop. She had paused for a long while with her hands clapped together and her head tilted down in prayer. While chanting an incantation in her mind, a spark of light emanated from her clasped hands until it forced them apart to give way to a long, metal rod. With rod in hand, Aerith twirled it above her head to conjure a helpful spell. Golden streaks of light shot out of the rod and homed in on Zack as Aerith cast Protect to buff the soldier's defenses and minimize damage.

The shadowy claws bounced off the new, hard-as-rock aura surrounding Zack. Taking advantage of his stunned foes, Zack bounced to his feet and yanked a second knife from his vest before charging in to disperse the shadows with his skilled tactics in close quarters combat. Another beam of light hit the soldier, this time granting him the spell Haste. Glowing with a red aura, Zack's movements sped up enough to leave an afterimage. He ran circles around the remaining Heartless, sheathing his knives and pulling out his backswords to finish the job.

When the field was purged of the menacing shadows, Zack collapsed to one knee while clutching at his injured shoulders. His swords clanged to the ground as he hugged his aching frame with gritted teeth. But the pain tapered off until it disappeared altogether when Aerith cast her final spell. She conjured Curaga to fully heal his injures before rushing to his side.

"Are you alright?" she asked, helping Zack to his feet.

"Sure am," he said with a victorious grin. "Thanks for the support."

"It was nothing." Aerith watched as Zack sheathed his swords and turned to walk towards his wayward daggers and broadswords lying near the steps. "Your technique has changed so much over the years…"

Zack bent over to retrieve his weapons. "Yeah."

"Zack…what's happened to you? I know this isn't the right time or place for such a conversation, but I worry about you."

With his back to her, Zack gripped his blades without a response.

"At least tell me why you stopped wielding the Buster Sword!" Aerith pressed in frustration. "It was always attached to you like a spare limb!"

There was a pause. "I've told you before: it's gone now. That's all there is to it." He sheathed his weapons.

"Zack…"

When Zack turned around, he did so with a smile. "Aerith, just relax," he chuckled. "Forget about that; we've got more important things to deal with. But you know what? Now that I think about it, there's no reason for me to be stressed. Sora'll pull through for us and then we'll throw a nice, big victory party! Maybe I can convince the chef at the café to give us some free steak and ice cream, and I'm sure the duck brothers have some fireworks to spare. It'll be fun!" He let out another hearty laugh, this time clutching at his gut like Santa Claus. Aerith wrinkled her forehead at the sight. There was no way to get through to him; as in the past, he didn't want to discuss it with her.

Even if Aerith wanted to pursue the matter, Axel's arrival prevented any further conversation. He paced out of the shop with a rigid expression tightening across his face and two tightly clenched fists concealed within his pockets.

"You sure took your time," Zack noted. "Finished coaching Sora?"

"Zip it and let's go," Axel snapped as he continued walking.

With a nod, Zack signaled to Aerith and the two led the way to the hotel via the back alley. They arrived at their destination without alerting the Heartless, though when they approached the target door, Aerith froze in place. In light of Zack's awkward behavior, Leon's frustration, and Cid's nervous breakdown, visiting the Blue Room was like taking on the emotional turmoil of a friend who couldn't make it to share his pain with her in person. Holding the keycard in her hand, Aerith hesitated not sure anymore if her heart could handle the pressure.

"What's the hold up?" Axel growled.

"Why don't you go back now?" Zack suggested to Aerith. "I can handle it from here." He gave his hand to her for the keycard, but instead of placing it in his hands, Aerith slipped it into the lock and opened the door herself.

"Like I said: it's been too long. What's a little more emotional strife in my day?" Zack wanted to reply, but he never got the chance as Aerith stepped to the side to allow Axel entry. "I think you'll find what you need in the closet," Aerith said before following him inside.

"No kidding," Axel remarked as he pulled out a few dark blue costumes and robes fitted with tattered capes. "Even the Lord of the Dead doesn't have duds like these! You're telling me one of you guys actually wears this stuff?"

No one answered. Aerith's attention was too distracted by the untouched bed and various knickknacks on the shelves to hear Axel while Zack chose not to comment.

"Heh, I bet this is Leon's closet."

"What makes you say that?" Zack asked.

"Only someone with a serious mood problem like his would ever be caught dead in this getup," Axel said, holding up a black leather one-piece costume adorned with various belts and buckles.

"Actually, they belong to a friend of ours who left them behind."

"I can't blame him." Axel hung the costume back into the closet, wrestling with the belts all the way. "He went out in public dressed in this straightjacket? Look at all these belts and buckles! Zippers are the way to go—didn't you people get the memo?"

Aerith put down a picture frame she had taken from the nearby shelf and let out a shaky sigh.

"Aerith, are you…?" Zack stepped closer to her.

"I'll be fine," she assured him. But she was lying; he could tell.

"Why don't you go check on Sora?" Zack suggested. "He'll need some last-minute first aid tips from the best medic on the team."

"Maybe you're right…" Without looking at Zack, she walked to the door. "Please excuse me." The door closed softly behind her.

"What's her deal?" Axel asked while unzipping his red vest and tossing off his white t-shirt. After scouring through the whole closet, he was fortunate enough to find something that resembled his old wardrobe—even if he had to take bits and pieces from various costumes to complete the look.

Zack rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we haven't seen our friend in a long time and it's not the easiest thing for her to be in his old room."

"The gothic guy whose clothes I'm wearing?"

"His name is Cloud and he didn't always cater his dress towards the darkness."

"Is that right?" Axel grunted as he toiled away to strap on all those accursed belts.

"Yeah." Zack leaned against the wall with his arms folded across his chest as he eyed the picture on he shelf. "We were all such good friends back then—all of us so full of light and hope." He stared at the picture for just a while longer and then turned his attention to Axel. "But Cloud's light was taken from him. He was never the same after that, and one night, he snuck out of the hotel and disappeared without a word. We haven't seen him since."

"Tough." With a flick of his wrists, Axel flipped on a leather hood to conceal his red hair. But unlike his old cloak, it didn't reach far enough to hide his face, so he improvised by using a black bandana to mask his mouth and fastening a couple of black belts to cover most of the remaining exposed skin. "I look like DiZ if he were part of the Organization," he muttered while giving himself the once-over in the mirror. "Oh well; it should do the trick. Let's go." He started for the door but caught sight of Zack staring at him. "What? Am I so menacing that you're stunned and speechless?"

"No…it's not that," Zack replied with a shake of his head. He unfolded his arms and approached Axel. "There's one more thing you need." Grabbing one of Axel's arms, Zack strapped a small watch onto his wrist. "Cid asked me to give this to you. When it beeps, that's the signal to let Sora escape into the ship."

"Escape, huh…?"

"Yup. We're running on a tight schedule here, so every second counts." Zack slapped his pal amiably on the back. "Good luck out there, huh?" He gave Axel an encouraging thumbs-up and then moseyed out of the room. All the while, Axel did nothing except stare at the ticking watch with a sense of loathing.

* * *

Back in the Accessory Shop's underground meeting room, Sora sat drumming his anxious fingers against the table when Aerith opened the door. "Hello, again."

"Oh, it's you…umm…"

"That's right; we weren't properly introduced. My name is Aerith."

"Ah, okay. I'm Sora."

"So I've gathered," Aerith said as she approached the table while carrying a small parcel. She set it down in front of Sora and opened it. "I've brought you some potions that may come in handy during the upcoming battle."

"Wow, thanks! I would've bought some from the ducks next door, but I don't have any munny." He picked up two potions and a mega-potion, and slipped them into his pockets.

"Use them wisely, Sora. Now go; you must hurry before it's too late."

"Right. I've got a job to do." Sora summoned the Keyblade while Aerith watched in awe as the legendary blade materialized in its wielder's grasp within a burst of white light. "Is Axel ready?"

"He should be."

"The fight's taking place near the belfry, right?"

"Yes; in the Second District. Just walk past the large doors behind the shop. The entrance is right next to the bank, so you can't miss it."

"Okay then." Resting his Keyblade onto his shoulder, Sora made his way to the door. "Here I go."

"Good luck, Sora."

The Keybearer let out a deep breath before bolting out the door and dashing towards the battleground for the face-off against one of his most powerful friends. As he ran up the steps and past the district's double doors, his mouth went dry as he thought more about fighting Axel. "It's okay; it's just a pretend fight," he assured himself. "Axel and I won't get too hurt, and I'm sure he'll go easy on me. There's no need to worry; I can do this!"

After psyching himself up, Sora jumped off the upper level of the Second District and landed smack in front of Smee with his Keyblade at the ready.

"Well if it isn't the cowardly Keybearer!" chortled the portly pirate. "Back to take your lumps like a man, are you?" He stuck two sausage-shaped fingers into his mouth and whistled to signal his troops. A mob of pirates appeared with their Jolly Roger Heartless captain at the lead, and Smee took up his anchor once more to finish the fight. Another battle broke out between Sora and the pirates while the field awaited Axel's debut.

Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy wandered along the rooftops of the Second District on a quest to find Leon and the others. They had departed from the garage just moments before Cid led the charge to start the Gummi Ship preparations, and hence missed them by mere minutes. After backtracking to the Third District base only to find it empty, they drifted into the Second to continue their search and thought it best to climb to the highest point in order to get a bird's eye view of the place.

"Gawrsh, Donald! You don't think they up and ran for their lives without us, do you?" Goofy fretted.

"Of course not!" Donald exclaimed. "They've gotta be around here somewhere. Keep looking!"

They walked across roof after roof oblivious of the fighting in the plaza until a stray bullet fired by Smee seared past Donald as he prepared to leap onto the next building. The magician yelped and jerked back to look up at his buddy with fearful uncertainty. "What the heck was that?"

Goofy eased his way towards the edge of the roof and looked down at the plaza to see Sora and the pirates fighting. But when a glint of silver and gold caught his attention, he squinted his eyes and gasped. "Donald, look! Look there!"

"Huh?" Donald leaned forward to see what all the hullabaloo was about, and almost jumped out of his feathers.

"It's the Key!" the King's men exclaimed in unison as their awestruck eyes trailed Sora's every move. They found their mission objective.

* * *

"Hurry up and ignite those thrusters!" Cid ordered while he hauled his toolbox over to Zack's ship.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Yuffie said while frantically typing at a command monitor. "We're talking about two thousand ships here!"

"Don't whine unless it makes you type faster. Now what of the shields?"

"Taken care of," Leon called from his post. "I'm now working on the automated weapons system."

"Good, good. You kids keep that up while I program the main bird." Cid tucked a computer pad into the tan belly warmer around his abdomen and boarded the ship.

Upon the moment of their arrival into the central garage, the freedom fighters wasted no time in rushing to the appropriate stations in order to ready their fleet of decoys. The whole complex was divided into a control room; a main garage for working on big projects; ten smaller garages for maintenance purposes; and four hangars which housed five hundred ships each. By luck, Cid had ordered his moogle engineers to move Zack's ship into the main garage for maintenance instead of doing it by the book and sticking it in one of the smaller ones; therefore he and the others could operate within close proximity of each other.

The central garage allowed for instant access to all of the hangars via four control centers that were linked up with the central hub operating within the control room. Cid designed them in order to allow for easy access to other ships while tinkering around with his latest project; it gave him a way to access blueprints, schematics, and real-time controls within walking distance of his workspace. Yuffie and Leon armed and prepared all their ships for launch using the control centers while Cid worked to configure the warp-equipped ship's autopilot.

"I don't like this," Cid muttered as sweat dripped from the side of his head. "If only I had more time…dagnabbit!" He attached his computer pad to the ship's main hub and ran his fingers fluidly across the touchscreen. After inputting all the necessary commands, his eyes drifted around the cockpit as he waited for the new program to upload into the onboard system. The leather captain's seat was discolored from wear and time; the markings along the various buttons and keypads indicating their functions were grated and illegible from constant use; paint and silicone peeled from the cabin's frame, while some patches were stuck back in place with tape and glue; the outdated GPS monitor flickered in hummed betraying its age. The ship was a relic compared to Cid's newest designs, but Zack cherished it all the same. He never piloted another ship; even when Cid offered to build him a better, more advanced one, Zack declined the offer and instead asked for upgrades to the same model.

One last look around the cockpit and Cid caught a glimpse of a worn, ragged corner of paper peeking discreetly from between a crack in the overhead panel. He tugged at the paper with his thumb and finger to reveal an old, faded photograph of a man and boy posing for the camera. The boy—Zack at a young age—sat atop the man's shoulders, sporting a broad, toothy smile while hugging the man's head; the smirking man had his eyes rolled up to glance at Zack as he secured the boy's legs in place. At the edge of the picture, a large, unblemished sword leaned against the nearby building.

"If only I had more time," Cid muttered again as he pocketed the photograph and checked the status of his computer pad. With all systems green, he unplugged the pad and stuck it back into his belly warmer. Grabbing his toolbox, he made his way to the rear where he opened the maintenance hatch. After using an assortment of tools to reconfigure the internal structure, he wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand and headed out the ramp. "Hey! Get your pompoms in here!" he hollered at the moogles waiting on standby. With a chorus of "kupos", they flapped their wings and flew up the ramp while carrying a large disk-shaped platform.

"Where do you want it, kupo?" asked the lead moogle.

Cid tossed his thumb towards the open panel. "The rear."

With another round of "kupos", the moogles set the disk near the panel and then grabbed their own tools to help Cid install it into the ship's mainframe. After soldering several wires into place and fitting in a couple of microchips, Cid dismissed the moogles. He attached his computer pad to the disk, and once he ran several diagnostic checks, he installed new software and programmed it with his personal settings. His work done, Cid disconnected the pad and exited the vessel.

"What's the status, kids?" he asked. "We ready to roll or what?"

"All systems are a go on my end!" Yuffie called. "Thrusters are ignited and AIs are set to fly! Heheh, I even programmed squad delta with a special maneuver that's _sure_ to catch the Heartless off guard."

"All defensive and offensive systems have been optimized," said Leon. "These ships won't go down without a fight."

"Let me just double-check the work you've done." Cid logged into his own post and scanned through the various settings applied by the others; he typed in several commands and made some adjustments as he went along. "Heh, I'm impressed. You rookies know how to pull through when it counts."

Yuffie grinned. "Of course! Nothing helps performance like the threat of total annihilation."

"Here, here!" Zack said from the entrance as he walked into the garage. "That'd motivate just about anyone to give it their best."

"Are they fighting?" Leon asked.

"They've got to be well into it by now. It takes a while for me to jog out here, you know?"

Leon crossed his arms. "They'd better be."

"Hey, relax! Everything's running smoothly so far," Yuffie noted. "We've got all the ships ready and raring to go! The plan's gonna work; you'll see!"

"Whatever."

Zack looked around the garage until his eyes landed on his ship. "Oh, hey! You buffered the dents out of the hull! Thanks, Cid."

"Err…yeah…" Cid flicked his injured noise hard enough to reopen the wound.

Zack's eyes narrowed; he could read Cid like a book. "What's the problem?"

There was a pause while Cid sighed. "Listen, Zack: there's no easy way for me to say this, but I'm using your ship as the main decoy."

"I thought you were going to install the warp gummi into a different ship?"

"Don't got the time for that, boy. In just two more minutes, it's got to launch. I could barely install the teleport pad within the limit; the warp gummi would take another twenty minutes tops since I'd need to remold it to fit one of the newer models."

Zack fell silent.

"I'm sorry, Zack—so very sorry, boy…" Cid said in the softest voice he could muster.

"It's Angeal's ship," Zack stated, his eyes fixed dead on Cid's with such intensity that it made the older man's stomach churn. He'd never seen that boy's face so dark.

"I know that. I know." Cid swallowed hard. "If there was anything else I could do, don't you think I'd go on and do it? But you've got to understand, Zack—this whole world's about to blow and we're plum out of time and options!"

Zack took another moment to hold his fierce stare before breaking eye contact with Cid and turning his back to everyone. "Do what you have to do."

"Zack…"

Cid and Yuffie watched as Zack stood motionless before his Gummi Ship. Even Leon observed the man in wonder of what his next actions would entail.

A loud beeping sounded off from the central control post causing Cid to grit his teeth. "This is it—we have to go now! Zack, I've got to get that ship to Sora!"

"Do what you have to do," Zack repeated while walking towards the ramp, "but I'll be the one to pick up the Keybearer."

"Wait a minute, boy—"

"Let him go, Cid," Leon said. "Let him say goodbye in his own way."

"…Fine." Cid didn't like the idea of leaving the most crucial part of the operation to Zack in his current state. If his emotions took control, he would jeopardize the mission. "Just make sure you two step on the teleporter after you've got him. It'll transport you back here and then the ship will automatically blast off into space."

Zack answered in the form of a wave. The ramp recoiled once he entered the ship and started the thruster. He sat in the captain's seat for the final time, donning the blank face that pained Aerith and looking out past the windshield with hollow eyes. Grabbing the joystick, he jerked it forward and blasted out of the garage while his comrades looked on with the good faith that he would make the right decision.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

You know what's funny—a Nobody swearing an oath.

Think about it: Nobodies don't have hearts, so they don't give a flying moogle's pompom about codes of honor, morality, or ethics. What's a promise to someone who lacks the capacity to care? Goals that aren't self-serving are meaningless, and every action done is to fulfill the ego. What Nobody would swear an oath and what would such an oath entail?

I'll tell you something about me in the old days: all I wanted was a heart. I didn't care how I got it, who I had to kill, or what kind of crock orders I had to obey—so long as I received a heart, the ends justified the means.

I pulled some really crazy stunts back in the day; you think Sora wiped out the Organization single handedly? Heh, I helped take out the trash. Those traitors had it coming, but it didn't stop there. Xemnas always found something to occupy my time with. It was like feeding a bone to his prized attack dog so he'd trick him into thinking it was a treat up until the poor pup broke his teeth and choked on the thing. An assassin that kills his own kind, forces darkness into the hearts of others, and aids in the suffering of whole peoples—how does such a creature _deserve_ a heart? Nothing but darkness awaited my future; no heart would ever settle within my corrupted shell.

What's my point? Somewhere down the line, I was touched by Sora's light and the faintest bit of feelings returned to me. Sure, it didn't complete me and I didn't magically transform into an empathetic, good-willed human being. But small changes _did_ ripple throughout my personality. I started to care about someone other than myself for a change, and the highlight of my day became spending time with my best pal Roxas instead of gazing alone at sunsets while scheming new battle tactics.

When Roxas wanted out of the Organization to look for his truth, I crushed the impulse to stop him. I could've been selfish about it; I could've forced him to stay. But I didn't. I've reflected much over why I let him leave that day, and this is my reasoning for it:

The Organization kept Sora's existence a secret from Roxas as a method of control. They agreed to help the kid attain a heart if he would utilize the Keyblade to help advance the Organization's objectives. Funny thing was he didn't _need_ a new heart since he already had one alive and well hidden right under his nose. If Roxas had learned of Sora and the connection they shared, the plan would've fallen through the cracks. Roxas would've left to join with his Other from the get-go, leaving the Nobodies without the proper tool to collect the hearts necessary to open the Door.

Everyone withheld the truth from Roxas—myself included. I let him leave that day…because the guilt-ridden tight-lipped part of me wanted him to learn the truth. I knew he would be happier that way because he'd gain the capacity to actually _be_ happy. For once, I put someone else before myself. But before you say that's noble of me, you need to hear the rest of the story.

When he left, the threats came pouring from the top brass. They needed their precious Key of Destiny returned no matter what the cost. I volunteered for the job, knowing if Saix went instead, he'd use his unique methods of persuasion to ensure Roxas would never _dare_ consider betrayal again. I failed, of course. Not only did Roxas fight me all the way but that meddlesome DiZ saw to it that my own best friend wouldn't recognize me.

Sometime after Roxas bested me in our final duel, I caught sight of Sora and his two deadweight companions merrily skipping off to their Gummi Ship after another day's work. The sight made my blood boil, and when the heat died down, I felt such a deep sadness and longing that I stumbled to a nearby bench and sat moping there until nightfall.

I realized then that my best friend was gone and we'd never pal around again. What business did the Light's championed hero have with a nonexistent assassin like me? Those bitter thoughts polluted my mind until I resolved to take Roxas back by force. I reverted to the old, despicable me—doing the dirtiest, most vile tasks just to get what I wanted.

The underhanded plot I schemed for the situation involved Kairi. By kidnapping her, I theorized Sora would relinquish hold of Roxas in order to save his damsel in distress. But…something strange happened to me after I met her. I wasn't sure why, but after I managed to track her down for the capture, a sickening feeling washed over me. I knew my actions were morally wrong, and for once, I cared.

I cared so much that I planned to release her and apologize. But Saix beat me to the punch. He found Kairi and took her away from me before I could act. I never forgot that feeling of remorse and defeat; I still carry it with me, and it hurts more now than it did in the past. But that's a different story for another time.

The point is, after being granted a second shot at life, I swore an oath—an oath to walk a different path. I made so many mistakes in the past that I disgusted myself. What the heck kind of _friend _was I, abandoning Roxas like that? Kidnapping a princess and plotting to transform the Keyblade's chosen one into a Heartless—what the heck kind of _man_ was I? And I thought I deserved a heart! Oh brother…

It's like I already told you punks: my biggest regret from that time was watching as Roxas embarked alone on his journey to find the answers. That's all I did—watch, and because of that it's right to say I abandoned him. When I went to fetch him from the digital town, it wasn't for his sake, but for my own. I wanted to reclaim my best friend, but really, I was too selfish to be anyone's friend.

I never wanted that to happen again.

So I swore an oath that Sora and I would go together towards our future no matter what. I wanted to amend all my wrongdoings and become a respectable human being _worthy_ of being Sora's friend.

But like I said before, it's a funny thing when a Nobody swears an oath. You never quite know what'll happen. The way I see it though, it's better to have a questionable oath than to have no oath at all.

Now go on and tell me. Tell me just how broken I am. _I want to hear those words!_

* * *

Wielding the Keyblade required a tremendous amount of skill and discipline. Although he grew up dueling with the kids on his island—Riku in particular—Sora progressed in the art of sword fight as any child would a fun pastime. It never meant life or death growing up in the peaceful tropics whether he could swing a sword like a centurion at war; the activity was purely sport.

But the equation changed. With the stakes high and his boyhood stamina struggling to stay the course, Sora poured all his dueling know-how into battling the powerful pirates whose exemplary handle of the cutlass far exceeded his amateurish dealing with the Keyblade. His form was sloppy, resulting in various blind spots and leaving him vulnerable to counterattacks. The shadows he faced earlier were far easier to fell. But now it seemed that the angered first mate and his crew upped the ante. With the shadows gone and the field packed with swashbuckling pirates, Sora could do little more than pray for Axel's swift arrival.

"My, my! Is the legendary Key wielder giving up already?" Smee taunted as Sora fell to one knee. The leader of the pirates—the Jolly Roger Heartless—managed to slash Sora clean across the chest. While clutching at his wound, the Keybearer grit his teeth as he raised his blade up in defense from the incoming onslaught. The Jolly Roger tore off his skull and bones captain's hat and flung it like Frisbee towards his target. The hat smacked against the Key. Sora grunted, but held fast for the follow-up barrage. A cutlass in each hand, the Jolly Roger charged in formation with his underlings. Five pirates and six cutlasses all crashed into Sora and rammed him flush up the nearby wall. Sora's back crashed against the concrete. The Heartless encircled him.

"This is a lesson well learned, boy. Captain Hook's crew is the roughest, toughest, nastiest bunch ever to sail the seven seas!" Mr. Smee signaled to the pirates as he approached. The chain broke, allowing the first mate a prime position in front of the worn Keybearer. "I'll be taking that Keyblade from you. You needn't worry; it'll be in good hands—err, that is, one good hand and one polished hook." Smee made a grab for the Keyblade, prompting Sora to lash out and strike at the portly pirate.

"You'll _never_ win!" Sora spat despite the pain. "This is far from over!" His attempt to bounce back on his feet landed in failure. The moment he shifted his weight forward, his pain-induced reflexes jerked him backwards for support against the wall.

"Feisty to the bitter end, I see. Very well. An execution is in order!" Hoisting his anchor to rest on his shoulder, Smee took aim for the finishing blow. Sora stared dead-on as the anchor's nozzle emanated with light from the accumulating particle energy. "Off to Davy Jones you go!"

A deafening howl exploded from the first mate as he lurched his body forward and flung the anchor far, far away from his scorched arms. The white-hot anchor landed at a safe distance away from its intended target, leaving Smee to dance a strange little jig as he flapped his arms like a pair of bird's wings in an effort to cool his smoldering skin. All the while, Sora took advantage of the sudden distraction to grab a potion from his pocket and splash the contents across his wound. Only when the cooling relief spread across his chest did he focus his attention on the welcomed turn of events.

"Who dares interrupt the mission of Captain Hook's honored first mate?"

"Your worst nightmare!"

Smee craned his neck towards the speaker's direction, looking high up at a nearby rooftop where a round of fireballs launched down to strike at the four pirates encircling Sora. The attack caught the Heartless off guard and sent them staggering away enough for the Keybearer to spring to safety.

"He's finally here!" Sora thought to himself as he made his getaway towards the wide, open space of the central plaza. "But why is he attacking the Heartless? Won't that pirate get suspicious if one of Maleficent's own people is _helping_ me?"

"How dare you, coward! Come down here and fight like a—oof!" Smee yelped as a hard, metallic object struck against the back of his head and recoiled back from whence it came like a boomerang. "Just what's going on here?"

"What's going on is you're not getting that Key!"

Another round of fireballs rained from the sky, shielding the arrival of Donald and Goofy as they sprung from the rooftops and landed in front of Sora with their weapons at the ready.

"Who're you?" Sora asked.

"Friends you can count on," Goofy replied. "It looked like you could use some help."

"Well yeah, but—"

"But nothing!" Donald snapped. "Let's hurry up and get these guys!"

"So you have lackeys of your own, have you?" Smee scoffed as he tried to pick his anchor from the ground. But his injured hands couldn't handle the weight, so he resolved in letting the Heartless finish the fight. "They've only delayed the inevitable! Heartless—attack!"

Jolly Roger twirled his cutlasses and led the charge against Sora and his newfound team. The intense battle waged on with Donald's magic catching the Heartless off guard, Goofy's shield-work striking unexpected lethal blows, and Sora pushing his rejuvenated chest to the max as his Keyblade met the cutlasses head-on. Within moments, the fight was over and the victors focused their menacing glares at the last standing pirate—first mate Smee.

"H-h-how is this possible?" Mr. Smee stuttered. He backed away slowly towards his retreat path.

"Looks like it's _you_ who's got a date with Davy Jones!" Sora retorted.

"Y-y-you boys'll be sorry! Once C-C-Captain Hook comes down here h-h-himself, he'll—"

"He'll _what_?" Donald grunted as he raised his staff.

"Captain Hook? How pitiful," sneered a new, sinister voice.

Everyone froze as an all-encompassing wall of flames seared along the ground and imprisoned them within its heated center.

"Uh, did you do that?" Goofy asked of Donald.

Donald shook his head; Goofy gulped.

"W-w-what's going on _now_?" Smee cried.

"Mr. Smee, how pathetic you are. Maleficent is not at all pleased with your failures, and your frivolous captain is anywhere but in her good graces."

"Is that you, Hades?" the first mate chanced a guess.

"Worse." An explosion rippled through the fire as a dark, hooded figure passed into the ring. He stomped his way up to Smee and towered over the stubby pirate.

"Who are you? I-I-I've never seen _you_ before!" the pirate stuttered as beads of sweat poured down his pale face.

"I…am the messenger," he announced in a deep, eerie voice that sent chills down everyone's spines.

"M-m-messenger…?"

"Maleficent's personal messenger."

"Are you, now? I didn't realize she employed the services of a messenger."

"And you would have remained blissfully oblivious to my existence had you not failed so horribly in your mission."

Smee backed away from the messenger's threatening presence until the flames singed his shirt. He gulped. "Why are you here?"

"To deliver a message."

"Is that all…?"

The messenger took a large step forward, raising his arm and extending his index finger to point at Smee. "This is a message…of your punishment."

"Punishment?" Smee exclaimed. "But we found the Keyblade! All we have to do is pry it from the boy's hands—that's all! There's no need to _punish_ anyone!"

"Your punishment has been decided: you and your inept captain are to be sentenced to the Bay of Crocs—a world populated entirely by crocodiles."

"NO! _Anything_ but that—please!"

"You will be liberated of your vessel…"

"No, NO!"

"The Heartless will no longer obey you…"

"Oh dear doubloons, no!"

"Thus is your fate."

"Please! There's still time! The boy's standing right there—we can snatch his key right here and now! There's no need for such cruelty!"

The messenger paused to listen to the first mate's squabbles and then offered his reply. "Your punishment can be averted…if you do as I say."

"Anything! _Anything!_"

"You are to assist me in claiming the Keyblade…"

"I can do that!"

"…by staying _out_ of my way."

"Huh?" Smee took a confused look into the messenger's intimidating green eyes and reeled with fright. Nodding like a good little obedient servant, he agreed to the man's terms and gave a feeble, shaky salute to illustrate his compliance. "I-I-I'll leave the rest to you!" He stayed there up against the flame wall for the remainder of the battle, cowering as the two sides exchanged ferocious blows.

When the messenger dealt with the porky pirate, he focused his attention on the three warriors staring on with fright and uncertainty from the adjacent end. He approached them, his eyes meeting Sora's. "Keybearer," he called, "surrender your blade to me and your end will be swift and merciful."

Sora clutched the Keyblade tighter and psyched himself up one last time. "This is it," he thought to himself. "Axel and I have to make this look convincing, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about these two new guys. I hope they don't mess up the plan _too_ much… But hey, we should be fine—no, we _will_ be fine. This'll work; it has to. Everyone's counting on us, Axel! Let's get these Heartless out of here!"

"We're never giving you the Key!" Donald quacked.

"Yeah! You'll have to go through _us_ to get it!" Goofy added, repositioning his shield closer to Sora.

"I'll never surrender—not to you or anyone else!" Sora shouted.

"Very well. You have been warned." Flames exploded from Axel's body as he summoned his chakrams and torpedoed himself towards the group.

Donald wasted no time in conjuring a Blizzard spell to cool down the hothead, but Axel predicted his movements and dodged with a counterattack to the duck's rear. One chakram slapped against the duck while Axel maneuvered the other to guard against Goofy's incoming attack. The Flurry of Dancing Flames lived up to his potential by summoning forth a massive fire strike against the King's men. A whirlwind of flames spun to engulf the two and swept them out of the fight by plunging them through the encompassing fire wall.

"It's just you and me now, kid," Axel said with a twirl of his chakrams.

"Let's go!" Sora sprung towards Axel with a slash of his Keyblade. The chakrams parried the Key and countered with a quick smack against Sora's abdomen. Sora recoiled, but Axel turned up the heat. He flung out his chakrams and bombarded the kid with a flurry of attacks. As one chakram snapped out of his hand to strike Sora, the other would return for another toss. The process happened at lightning speed and connected fifteen times before Sora lurched backwards to dodge the successive blow.

Gripping the Keyblade tighter, Sora went on the offensive. He bypassed the next round of homing chakrams by sprinting around the ring faster than Axel could trail him while narrowing the circumference each lap. When he gained the right amount of distance from his attacker, Sora jumped in the air and aimed to land a blow square on Axel's head. But the Keyblade met with his chakrams once more, and the sheer force emitted by their impact sent a shockwave quaking throughout the field.

They continued to fight, both warriors giving it their all in what was meant to be a mock battle. Axel possessed the clear advantage. Not only did he have the experience from fighting Sora multiple times in his past, but the Sora he currently faced-off against did not wield the Keyblade with the same bone-crushing technique and sound-breaking agility as his older counterpart from the other universe. Yet all the same, Sora put up a worthy fight as the Keyblade's chosen one.

Until the end, Sora managed to keep Axel on his toes and strike several hard-hitting blows that knocked the wind clear out of the veteran warrior. However, as the battle dragged on and the injuries stacked up, Sora's reflexes slowed to a dangerous degree leaving him wide-open for a blazing hot barrage of enflamed chakrams. Robbed of his breath, Sora fell backwards and slammed against the hot ground. He groaned and opened his eyes to a spinning world. A loud ringing echoed throughout his ears, deafening him to Axel's heavy footsteps.

Axel stopped and loomed over the Keybearer.

_Do it._

Wincing in pain, Sora tried to flip himself back upright. But complete with all the inflicted damage, the scorching temperature further restricted his movements and his body demanded that he rest there for a while.

_Do it_.

The sickness Axel felt earlier reemerged in the pit of his stomach and sprouted all throughout his body. Behind the mask and various belts, his face twisted in hatred as he gazed upon the boy who robbed him of his best friend.

He raised his chakrams.

_NOW! DO IT!_

Sora's eyes went wide and he screamed in such agony that his throat went raw. Through his tearing vision he caught sight of Axel's taut muscles and wild eyes before everything went dark. The last thing he heard was a strange tune going off somewhere nearby.

* * *

_Excerpt (cont.):_

Tell me I'm broken…because it's true.

* * *

The loud beeps sounding off from his wristwatch were of a tune not unlike those found in musical boxes and triggered a memory imprisoned deep within Axel's fragmented heart. Had Cid programmed the alarm with any other melody, the battle would have ended with a fatality. But the nostalgic string of notes chiming from the watch transported Axel back to a time where he lived free of darkness and temptation. Little pieces of memories as if from a dream glittered across his mind like a shower of glass shards where each shard imprisoned a moment of his life in a constant playback loop. He tried to stop the shards from falling out of sight, but they slipped through the cracks as the haunting tune ushered forth a new set of memories.

His mind shifted to Kairi, that innocent girl who knew a dangerous man when she met one. Guilt and anguish burrowed into him as he recalled his cruel plan to kidnap and torture Kairi in a foolish attempt to force Sora to his knees. Those kids…how could he even _entertain_ the idea of ruining their lives? It made him nauseas. He remembered then just how important Sora was to him—how vital it was to protect him.

Everything happened in a fraction of a second—all flashing before his eyes to snap him free from the clutches of darkness. It was then that Axel's horror-filled gaze fell to his hands. One of his chakrams slashed into the upper left quadrant of Sora's chest and it was all Axel could do to keep himself from collapsing into a nervous breakdown. He quickly yanked the accursed thing out and slapped Sora across the cheek to awaken him. But no matter how many times he tried, the kid wouldn't respond.

"What…have I done…?" he whispered, dropping his chakrams and relinquishing magical hold of the fiery ring. The flames drained in color until the remaining blue embers faded from the field.

"You did it!" exclaimed Smee. "You've defeated that pesky boy!"

Axel didn't answer.

"Ho, ho! The Captain will be pleased to learn—"

The roaring thrusters of Zack's Gummi Ship cut the potbellied pirate off mid-sentence as it zoomed in to hover over the scene. Gears grinded throughout the ramp mechanism, opening the way for Zack to charge down the long, metal strip and jump to the ground with a powerful thud. Wasting no time, he bounded to his feet with his muscles bulging as he flew towards Axel and punched him hard in the jaw. The force of impact knocked him flat on his back where Donald waddled in to try his Blizzard spell again—this time freezing Axel in a solid block of ice from the neck down as the man did nothing to resist.

"Oh no!" Goofy gasped. "Look at the Key wielder!" He rushed to Sora's side and tried to shake him awake. "Hey! Get up!"

"Step aside, step aside," Donald said as he raised his mage's staff and conjured forth the spell Cura. At once, Sora's body glowed with a bright green aura that healed some of his wounds and he opened his eyes with a groan.

"Wh-where…?" Sora blinked to clear his vision but was yanked off the ground by Goofy.

"Get aboard the ship!" Zack ordered, and the knight obeyed. Goofy pulled Sora towards the ramp and shoved him into the vessel.

"This isn't over," Zack muttered low enough for only Axel to hear. He then sprinted back onto his ship to see to the Keybearer.

"Come on, Donald! Let's go!" Goofy called after his companion.

"No way! I'm gonna finish this!" Donald said with a kick to Axel's head.

"We've gotta retreat for now!" Goofy grabbed Donald and hauled him away from the frozen menace.

"Hey! Let me go!"

"You fools can't escape!" shouted Smee as he chased after them. But he tripped and fell over one of Axel's chakrams, giving the King's men enough time to board the ramp just before it closed.

Onboard the ship, Zack inspected Sora's injuries and judged that Donald's magic wasn't strong enough to fully cure the deep wound across the boy's chest. "Do you have a potion?" Sora nodded and pulled out a bottle, which Zack grabbed and hurried the contents over the injury. "Darn…it's not enough either, but we're out of time." Grabbing Sora by the arm, he hauled him towards the rear of the craft where they stopped in front of the mechanized disk Cid had installed. "Step onto this teleporter and your role in this plan is finished. I'll see that you're looked after once we get back into town."

Sora raised his hands to his heart. "Axel, he…"

"I know, I know. Sora, hey, it'll be okay."

"I'm…not sure…" He clenched his eyes. "Axel…why…?"

Zack placed his firm hands on Sora's shoulders. "It _will_ be okay; trust me. I'll _make it_ okay. But right now, there are people who are depending on you, so we've got to be quick. We only have minutes left."

"You're right…" Sora mumbled. With his eyes cast down, he stepped on the teleporter and disappeared off the ship.

"Hey, where's the Key?" Donald cried.

"He's gone," Zack replied. "Step on this pad here to follow him."

Without another word, both Donald and Goofy trotted off into the teleporter leaving Zack alone in the autopilot-driven ship speeding into the atmosphere. He didn't even bother taking one last look around the place before hopping onto the disk himself.

Back in the plaza, Smee wobbled to his feet and watched as the ship blasted off for the stars. "Ha, that foolish boy! The blockade will shoot down his vessel and all will be well. The Captain and I will avoid Maleficent's wrath yet!"

No sooner did the portly pirate dream of a crocodile-free future when two thousand bright lights boomed across the sky and shuttled ahead of the Keybearer's ship to engage the Heartless. The tightly knit blockade broke line to face-off against the fleet of Resistance ships, parting enough to allow the warp-equipped ship safe passage. Once far from the war zone, the warp engine activated to take the ship far across the universe.

* * *

_Excerpt (cont.):_

I was a broken man back then; I still am now, though it's not as debilitating as in the past. My heart retained a few fragments after I passed through the time warp, but the miniscule number did nothing to prevent atrocities like that incident with Sora. That's not to say they had no merit, however. It's because I started out with those small pieces that a broken man like me could come so far and learn so much.

Life's all about growing, you know? No one stays the same forever, even guys like me who start out with a boatload of problems. It's all one big journey where you never know who you'll run into next and you never know how much you'll change because of it. The way I see it, we all begin our journeys incomplete. It's the experience we accumulate along the way that shapes us and defines the concept of "completeness" for each individual.

My journey's reached its end, however. I'm about to bite the big one without having achieved my interpretation of completeness. There's still a piece missing, and because of it, I'll remain broken even after I'm gone from this place.

Know something, though? That's a story for another time…

* * *

Pushing his feelings to the side, Axel focused on finishing the task at hand—he owed it to Sora. After melting free of the ice, he ran up to Smee. "You imbecile!" he roared, grabbing the terrified pirate by the shirt and allowing his own self-loathing to project onto the unsuspecting dolt. "Get after him!"

"B-b-but—"

"Get back onto your ship and follow him! NOW!"

"Y-y-yes sir!" Not wasting time with a salute, Smee scrambled for the pickup site and activated his teleporter.

With the first mate out of the way, Axel dashed for the Third District to take care of the captain. He barged through the doors and stomped deep into the shadows until his senses detected a pair of leering eyes tracing his movements. "Watcher, heed me!" he boomed, and a pair of glowing, yellow eyes revealed themselves within the darkness. "Transmit this message to your Captain Hook: I am the messenger sent by Maleficent…"

* * *

"…I am the messenger sent by Maleficent to deliver unto you a punishment most foul. You have fallen out of her good graces by your incessant failures at acquiring the Keyblade. Go, now! Fly your vessel after the Keybearer's ship! Fail to leave immediately and I will dispose of you and your duties will be reassigned to another member of the Order!"

The Watcher Heartless transmitted the message successfully, striking unparalleled fear into the hearts of Captain Hook and his first mate.

"You'd better do as he says, Captain!" Smee cried. "I've seen his fury first-hand!"

The Captain's face went livid. "But the Noventa Cannon! I don't think I can stop it, Smee!"

"You're aiming to fire the cannon?" Smee exclaimed, hearing of his dear captain's plans for the first time.

"Oh, Smee! What was I to do? Utilizing the cannon was the only way to _ensure_ the brat's defeat!"

"But, Captain! We have to disengage if we're to pursue that ship! It had a warp drive equipped!"

"Don't you think I know that?" the Captain shouted. He then turned to his band of pirate Heartless to issue new orders. "All Heartless, disengage the Noventa Cannon and set sails after the brat's vessel!"

One of the pirates turned from its post and jumped up and down in a frenzied panic.

"I don't care! Just stop the procedure! Hurry after that Keybrat!"

The pirate jumped again, this time flailing its sword through the air.

"Yes, I know it'll need maintenance!" the Captain barked. "Just cut the power and be done with it! All vessels are to follow the warp-drive residue! Go!"

With a twirl of its sword, the pirate struck his blade down on a long electrical cord and effectively cut the power feeding the Noventa Cannon. The raw energy charging within the barrel of the cannon dispersed the moment the central core ceased fueling the system. Explosions triggered by the abrupt cut-off violently rocked the ship. The Heartless rushed to the emergency manual stabilizers located underneath the cannon to steady the vessel, many facing destruction in the process.

Not waiting for the ship's equilibrium to restore, Smee hit the thrusters and launched the blockade's flagship after the fading trail of warp residue. All ships in the area followed suit, abandoning the fight against the Resistance and shifting into full speed. But the Resistance AIs refused to give up the fight. Yuffie installed an aggressive program utilized by the last surviving squad. With their targets locked, the autopiloted ships followed the Heartless into the vortex where they continued to fight the good fight until their ultimate destruction.

In the cannon's absence, the blazing red-orange skies melted into the familiar, tranquil dark blue that comforted the refugees with its pacifying beauty. Peace returned to Traverse Town.

* * *

"We did it, Squall!" Yuffie jumped high with a joyous fist pump into the air.

"That's _Leon_," the leader corrected.

"Who cares at this point? We've just cheated death for the third time!"

Leon glared at her.

"Eh-heh…obviously, you still care." She sighed. "You've gotta lighten up one of these days…"

"WHOO-HA! Those kids and their crazy plan—it actually worked!" Cid said as he gave Leon a slap on the back. "Quit being so sensitive and get out there to congratulate 'em!"

Leon nodded and started for the door. "You're right…"

"That's the spirit!" Cid bounded off after him, grinning like an idiot all the way. "C'mon, Yuffie! Bust a move!"

"You don't have to tell _me_ twice!" The agile ninja sprinted to the front of the group to lead the way, but stopped in the middle of the hall. "Hey, I just thought of something!"

"That no self-respecting stealthy ninja would walk around in _yellow shorts_?" Cid jibed.

"Oooh, I'll get you for that, old man!" Yuffie said with a shake of her fist. "But no!"

"Then what? Hurry up—we've got a party to throw!"

"We can't go over there empty-handed! That kid deserves a medal and a trophy at _least!_"

"Don't got none, ninja girl," Cid said with a flick against his undamaged nostril. "He'll have to settle for baby back ribs like the rest of us."

"It's lobster night," Leon corrected.

"What? That was last night, you pin head!"

"They served a veggie-lovers dinner last night."

"The heck…" Cid paused to scratch his head. "Huh…now it makes sense! I skipped count since I can't stand those eat-your-greens pansies."

Yuffie smiled as she watched the back-and-forth banter. Leon hadn't held a silly conversation like that in such a long time; it brought warmth to her heart to see his tension released. "Uh, you guys—we really _should_ consider getting him something; like some defense equipment or potions."

"Yap, yap, yap! The kid'll eat his lobster and like it!" Cid said as he stormed off for the exit.

"And what he _neglected _to mention was that lobster costs 1500 munny and _he's_ going to pay for it," Yuffie snickered.

"Hurry up, Yuffie," Leon called from farther down the hall.

"Hey, how'd you move so fast? Get back here! _I'm_ supposed to be the fastest of them all!"

Meanwhile, the recipient teleporter disk located in the Third District's base spat out the survivors from the Gummi Ship. Sora went flying into the nearby bed followed by Donald, Goofy, and Zack. Their combined weight crushed against the Keybearer's sore chest, and he shouted in pain to hurry everyone off his person.

"Sorry!" Zack cried as he hauled himself and the others off the bed. "Donald—can you cast another cure spell on him?"

"Sure, sure." Moving Zack aside, Donald waddled up to Sora's bedside and held his staff close to the wound. Another green aura grew to envelope the Keybearer, this time for a prolonged period. Donald focused the whole of his magical prowess into sealing the wound, and within a few minutes, Sora's body reverted to its natural state. "There you go; all fixed!"

"Wow, thanks," Sora said as he patted the unblemished muscle. "It's almost like nothing ever happened."

Donald frowned. "What do you mean 'almost'? That's class-A magic you're looking at there! You may as well think your injuries only happened in a nightmare!"

"It feels like it was a nightmare…" His countenance drooped in depression.

"Hey, now. I gave you my word," Zack said with a reassuring pat to Sora's shoulder. "Let me take care of it."

"But, Zack—"

"No, no! You just stay here with these guys—which by the way, I believe introductions are in order." Zack stepped back to allow the King's men the front row. They explained the situation—about how the King ordered them to find the Keyblade master, and how the worlds depended on their ability to figure out Maleficent's evil plot and stop her.

"So…you want me to come with you?" Sora asked.

"Ayup! We can go to other worlds with our vessel," Goofy said. "That way, we'll be sure to find out what the Order's up to!"

Sora let out a dejected sigh. After the battle with Axel, his heart just wasn't in adventuring anymore. "I…need some time to think right now."

"Whaddya mean by that?" Donald quacked. "Hurry up and get on our ship! We've got a witch to stop and a king to find! Not to mention that evil warlock's disciple's still lurking around somewhere… You can think later." He grabbed Sora's hand and tried to drag him off the bed, but the Keybearer smacked himself free.

"No way!" Scowling, Sora pushed from the bed and stomped off towards the door. Those two didn't care about anything except the Keyblade. What did his feelings matter? Confusion and disappointment swirled within him, and although Axel's chakrams didn't injure his heart, his betrayal did. Sora reached for the doorknob, but Zack stopped him. "Leave me alone."

"Sora, I know what it's like to be hurt by someone you care for," he said. "You think that you know someone—that they'll always be true to themselves and to you—only to one day suffer through tremendous hardship and realize you didn't know the whole story."

"He protected me, Zack!" Sora said, a tear streaking down his cheek. "He protected me from a monster only to become a monster himself! You're telling me you know how that feels?"

"I do."

Sora tilted his head up towards Zack, looking into his eyes. Something about those eyes made him uneasy, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact cause. He experienced a similar feeling when he first met Zack, but now…what was that man _really_ feeling? The tone of his voice made Sora want to believe him, but those eyes conveyed a different message altogether—almost as if they offered no emotion to back up the words.

"So what should I do…?" Sora asked, too weary to concern himself over Zack's awkward eyes anymore.

"Go to the hotel and rest. Here, I'll give you my card; I don't sleep much in there anymore, so it's practically a vacant room." He pulled out the keycard for the Sky Room from his back pocket and handed it to Sora. "Don't worry about Keyblades, Heartless, or missions—just rest. Everyone'll be here when you wake up, so don't worry."

Donald frowned at the conversation's direction and opened his beak to object, but Goofy beat him to the punch.

"Sorry about rushing ya like that," Goofy apologized. "Donald's just eager is all, so don't place any fault on the fella. You just go get some shuteye—you deserve it after fighting so bravely, ahyuck! We'll talk some more when you're feelin' up to it, right, Donald?"

The grouchy wizard mumbled a few incoherent words under his breath and then folded his arms. "Yeah, yeah. Rest up and then we'll talk."

"See? Everyone's in agreement! Now come on; I'll drop you off at the hotel," Zack said as he opened the door. "Donald, Goofy—you guys wait here for Leon and the others. They'll be along shortly. Just tell them that Sora's exhausted from the fight and he'll meet with them later."

Goofy saluted. "You can count on us!"

Satisfied, Zack ushered Sora outside and the two left for the Second District.

* * *

Sweet dreams found Aerith as she rested with her head pillowed in her arms. The day's severe load of stress tightened around her heart, draining her of energy and leaving her vulnerable to weary sleep. But as she slumbered, memories from a time long past resurfaced to ease the burden. She dreamt of the days where she and her friends lived their happy, carefree lives in their home. Each moment brimmed with such warm light that she never wanted to awaken from the dream.

But all dreams come to an end eventually, and Aerith was stirred from her sleep by a gentle nudge to her arm. Opening her eyes yielded the blurred image of Leon standing next to her. Even after blinking away the haze, one look into his face made Aerith wonder whether she was still asleep. Leon's face held a small, placid smile—a sight so rare that it only ever happened in her dreams. She couldn't take her eyes off that smile, wishing it would last forever.

"They did it," Leon said. "The blockade is gone and they took the cannon with them."

"That's wonderful!" Aerith clapped her hands together in relief. "Where are they?"

"In the Third District," Leon replied as he approached the refrigerator. "We made a stop here first to get you, and…" He paused to grab the fridge with both hands and slide it across the floor to reveal a trapdoor. After yanking the latch open, Leon reached in to retrieve a small, golden vial. "…I wanted to get this." He placed the vial on the table in front of Aerith. "Give this to Sora."

While Leon replaced the fridge, Aerith took the vial into her hand and slipped it into her pocket without question. Leon never did like personally giving gifts to people; he didn't care for the sociable interaction.

Leon started for the door. "Let's go." He opened it, waiting for Aerith to rise from her seat and walk out before following her to the shop proper. There, Cid and Yuffie were debating what to give the Keybearer for his job well done.

"I still say the lobster dinner covers it," Cid grunted.

"_Just_ a dinner? Doesn't he need _supplies_?" Yuffie contended.

"There's no way I'm givin' out freebies! If he wants an accessory, he can pay for it like everyone else."

"But he's the Keyblade master!"

"And a customer."

Yuffie threw her hands in the air. "Tch! You're impossible."

"I have an idea," Aerith said as she approached and everyone turned to look at her. "I was speaking to Sora earlier and he mentioned that he didn't have any munny. Why don't we all chip in and give him some travel funds?"

"Good idea." Leon reached into his pocket for his wallet. He handed his munny to Aerith.

"Isn't this a bit much?" Aerith said after counting the bills—1000 munny total.

"Travel isn't cheap."

"If you're sure…"

Leon nodded.

"Alright, how about you, Yuffie?"

"Well, I _guess_ it's okay. He can buy his own supplies with this." Using her lightning ninja reflexes, Yuffie produced 500 munny from thin air.

Aerith took the bills. "And you, Cid?"

"Here, he can have this _in addition_ to that lobster dinner." Cid pulled a single 50 munny bill from his belly warmer and forked it over.

Yuffie stomped on his foot, sending the engineer jumping with a pain-filled shout.

"OUCH! Why you little cretin! The heck was _that_ for?"

"Stop being so stingy! He just saved our hides from _your_ cannon!"

"I'm buying him a lobster dinner!"

"Give him an accessory!"

"Grr…! Just take the darned munny and get off my back!" Cid dished out another 150 munny with a grumble and a growl.

Aerith collected the addition and chipped in 300 munny of her own. "There, 2000 munny total! That should be enough for the advent of his journey."

"Alright, let's go." Leon gave a satisfied nod and led the way out of the shop.

* * *

"Here we are!" Zack announced from outside the hotel. "Just go in there and find the azure door decorated with white clouds. Slide the card in and you're all set to go! Though, in retrospect, I'm sure the Keyblade could open any and all doors, so maybe you don't need that card… Ah whatever."

Sora looked at the keycard in his hands and sighed. "Thanks, Zack."

"Don't mention it. Now take it easy, huh?" Zack gave Sora one last, reassuring smile before sprinting out of sight.

After entering the building, Sora spotted Zack's room with ease; it was the first door that caught his eye. He approached the Sky Room and inserted the card into the reader, but paused for a moment. A nearby clinking perked his ears and he turned his head towards the sound. When his sights fell upon the tall, dark figure looming with a foreboding aura, he pivoted on reflex and summoned the Keyblade.

"Sora…"

Trembling, the disheartened Key wielder held up his blade in defense and halted the approaching man. The two engaged in a stare-off, each waiting for the other to make a move, and after much time passed, the man retreated without a single exchange of words. Sora stood frozen in place well after the man departed. Multiple thoughts raced within his mind, but his weariness prevented him from tackling them head-on. He trudged off into his room, locking the door with the Keyblade and then collapsing onto the bed.

* * *

_Excerpt (cont.):_

That night, I realized how much the old days were an influence on my new life. Standing in front of the mirror yielded a horrible sight when I saw myself wearing that tattered leather outfit. It scared me. I looked exactly as I did that time I fought alongside Sora before blowing up the army of Dusks to allow him safe passage. Instead of making progress with my life, I swerved around and ran full speed towards the past. Attacking the Keybearer, making a grab for Sora's heart, playing the villain—how was _that_ fulfilling my oath?

I viewed the mirror's reflection as an omen that my fate would repeat if I continued to hold on to that part of myself, so I tossed it out with the dirty laundry and vowed to never wear black again. No more playing the bad guy for me regardless of the circumstances. But before I could lay claim to being a new man, I had to face up to the facts: I almost killed Sora and the kid was terrified to death of me.

When I went back to the hotel to ditch the leather straightjacket, I saw him there trying to open one of the rooms. I wanted to talk to him—to apologize and explain myself—but when I saw that frightened look in his eyes…

…I was crushed. He raised his Keyblade to me thinking I'd come back to finish the job, so I turned and left. I didn't want to hurt him anymore—him or myself. All the progress I had made towards getting buddy-buddy with Sora went down the toilet and the whole ordeal left me feeling emptier than a pot of gold in Donald's keep.

I didn't know what to do after that. Without Sora, what was the point of continuing? My whole reason for being was to help him, but I tried to kill him instead.

On that night, I thought about quitting. Part of me threw in the towel right then and there, but those persistent fragments didn't want to budge. My feeble, little bud of a heart held onto the hope that I could fix things. But you know what? In situations like that, you can't fix diddlysquat by yourself.

No, it takes two: someone in the middle of the storm, and someone who stands outside of it to cast a rescue line. I found my rescue line in the strangest of places…

* * *

A relentless war waged within Axel's fragmented heart, tearing at him from three angles. The grand mission he set forth to accomplish that once guided his steps towards finding and aiding Sora fought a losing battle against the selfish desires pooling in from the burgeoning shadows. On the one hand, the tempter whispering corruptive thoughts into his ear called for Sora's eradication; on the other, a subtle, more negligible temptation beckoned Axel to steer the Key wielder away from his destiny and to hog all of the boy's light to himself.

Three choices, one outcome—no second chances, no alternatives; not this time. It was do or die because he couldn't walk away from it; he couldn't abandon his position. His reason for living depended on that boy, but whether the Keyblade master lived to successfully complete his journey or not now depended on Axel. The ball left Sora's court the moment a chakram struck him across the chest, and now, Axel had to move fast or else he'd lose the ball forever.

On that cool, placid night when the stars shined their brightest for all the town's citizens to rejoice in their prolonged safety, Axel slumped into such a terrible fit of despair, that a small part of him wished he no longer possessed any trace of a heart. The ability to feel opened the gates to various emotions, including those of sorrow and depression. Pain complimented peace on the universal scale of balance, much like light complimented darkness. One cannot exist without the other, and to reap the benefits of one, the hardships of the other must also be endured.

High atop the belfry, Axel retreated to the one place that held a faint bit of comfort and familiarity. He settled on the roof right above the giant clock, looking out over the Second District with vacant eyes as his chaotic thoughts duked it out in a darkened place deep within his mind. Sora, Roxas, Donald, Goofy, the Messenger, the fight, and the embedded chakram—everything swirled around into a giant pool of murky slop unfit for handling.

For the first time since his journey's start, he lacked a plan of action. Axel wallowed in his self-loathing, hating himself for giving into the darkness. Although the tempter remained silent for now, he knew the whispers would return soon enough to berate his failures in stealing Sora's heart. Part of him thought hard on how to resist the temptations and shut that voice up for good, but another part relinquished all effort on the matter, reasoning that with Sora's lack of trust, it mattered not what became of the tempter. If Axel couldn't get within a few feet of the Keybearer without threat of attack, then there was no point in applying himself for a solution.

Even if he could get near Sora, what if the urge to snatch his heart resurfaced and gained control? What if he succeeded in destroying Sora?

"What the heck was I thinking? The only way I'll ever be of any use to that kid is if I dropped dead!" Axel slammed his fist into the roof with gritted teeth. "What's the point of being here anymore?" He stood up and looked down at the plaza below that lay undisturbed since the fight. "To go or not to go—that is the question."

Axel took a step towards the roof's edge. The wind blew past him, ruffling through his hair and vest as if to push him back a distance. But Axel waited for the gust to die then lifted his foot to hover over the empty air. "My absence wouldn't hurt. This is borrowed time, after all, so it probably doesn't count."

"There you are."

Surprised, Axel craned his neck back around. "Zack...?"

Standing there behind him with his face rigid and his fists clenched was the Resistance's first class soldier. Once he captured Axel's attention, he didn't waste time cutting to the chase. "Don't start. Not another word. I've got something to say, and you're going to listen. So sit down and shut your mouth." His voice again acquired an unfamiliar tone that Axel would never associate with the man. It wasn't amiable, soldier authoritative, or upset, but rather, was stern and lacked all emotion.

Axel watched as Zack took a few advancing steps and then sat down on the edge of the tower, waiting for Axel to do the same. When he complied, he did so in silence and waited for Zack to speak once more.

"I've been at this game for a long time," he said while looking out across the district. "My senses are sharp, my instincts are honed, and my experience is second-to-none; that's why I never kept my eyes off you. I had my suspicions about you from the moment we first met, and after observing you for a while—testing your character and demeanor—I knew you would pull a stunt like this eventually. It was only a matter of time before you snapped, and it's a good thing it happened sooner rather than later."

"How—"

"Shut your mouth!" Zack shouted with such ferocity that Axel wondered if the Messenger was playing tricks on him again. "I'm speaking now, do you understand? Shut up and listen! You almost killed the paragon of light today, and it's _very lucky_ for you that I was around to catch you in the act. I came to pick up Sora in person rather than leaving the ship in Cid's hands or an AI because I _knew_ that little mock fight of yours presented a convenient excuse to get him close to you in combat. Maybe something went wrong like an 'accident' or maybe the Heartless clawed out his heart—the excuses and cover-ups are endless, thus giving you a primed escape from suspicion. But I know the truth, Axel, and don't you _ever_ forget it."

Axel studied Zack's face all throughout the lecture. It remained taut and free of all emotions, even when the tone of his voice fluctuated into various levels of anger. "It's the Messenger again—it has to be," Axel thought to himself. "He's playing tricks with me. There's no way Zack 'the gung-ho soldier' Fair could suck all the feeling out of his overly-animated face!"

"The Keyblade master is the most important person alive," Zack continued. "Without him, the Order will continue its conquest of the universe and the Heartless will grow to consume every last heart. But it's more than that; Sora has the power to heal people's hearts—to reverse the damages done by the Heartless."

"What the heck is he going on about…?" Axel wondered.

"No one else matters to me—just Sora. I don't care about anything except seeing the Keyblade master through this ordeal safely, and I'll cut down anyone who threatens him. Friend, foe, nameless bystander—it makes no difference to me. Raise one threatening hand to the Keyblade's chosen one and it's over; you've signed your death warrant." Zack paused and then turned to look at Axel. "Do you understand me, Axel?" No reply came. "I asked if you understood."

Axel shifted towards Zack. "It's all crystal… But I never pegged you for a schizophrenic. You have more mood swings than a toddler on a sugar high. Cutting down nameless bystanders? That doesn't sound like the goofy guy who bends over backwards to help everyone in town."

"You really haven't figured it out yet, have you?"

To that, Axel raised a bewildered eyebrow.

A long pause followed and Zack took the conversation in a different direction. "You never asked me why."

"Huh?"

"If I'm so good at spotting fakes, phonies, and liars, why did I give a ride to a naked drifter with an obvious hidden agenda?"

"You want the truth? I thought you were just plain screwy in the head so I didn't even bother to ask. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, you know?"

"Well, I'm not 'screwy', now am I?"

"I don't know, are you?" Axel looked Zack dead in his empty eyes trying his best to infer the guy's thoughts by his body language. But he failed; he couldn't pick up anything on the radar and it made him uneasy. "So why _did_ you give me clothes, a ticket out of New Port, and a meeting with your buddies?"

"Because I know what you really are."

Axel's eyes narrowed. "What…?"

"I told you about Cloud—how he ran away."

"What of it?"

"I was there that night. It was the night I died."

* * *

A/N: A note about Sora's behavior: Unlike the game, he hasn't had time to settle into his role as Keyblade master, to accumulate much experience, or to form a strong bond with Donald and Goofy before facing betrayal (like he did when Riku sided with the darkness). Because he was only just thrust into this position as Keybearer, he doesn't have the securities necessary to stand emotionally strong against Axel's sudden betrayal, and therefore his withdrawal from everyone at the end is a logical conclusion. However, that's not to say he'll remain this way for long.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

Nobodies can't feel, and any emotion displayed is a replication fabricated from a memory. There's a lot of logic involved in calculating the proper response necessary for each situation. To give you an example: say you told me a real knee-slapper of a joke. In a fraction of a second, my brain would access how I'd react back in the old days in order to replicate the desired outcome—almost like a computer accessing a file from its database. If, for whatever reason, I couldn't think of any moments applicable to the situation, all my expertise in the field of mimicry would fill in the blanks with an action not originally attributed to my Somebody. In other words, I'd just think back to how I observed some dumb nut on the street react under a similar circumstance and mimic his response.

That's all emotions are to Nobodies: calculations and replications—hence the reason why their actions can never be trusted. What's an action, after all, but a reflection of the self? Nobodies don't have selves. The only thing reflected in their actions is emptiness. But actions, like mirrors, can play tricks if they're angled just right. Thing is, not every Nobody is a master at the fine art of deception.

Take Demyx and Lexaeus for instance—there was a clear difference in how those two presented themselves. Demyx knew how to blend in with the humans, always making himself out to be the jittery numbskull. What was the point of keeping your defenses up around a guy who yelped at the sight of his own shadow? He always appeared too clumsy and brain-dead to take seriously, but he was a cold-blooded killer all the same. The second you waved off his stupidity and turned your back, he'd strum a few notes on his strings and dehydrate your body for a slow, agonizing end.

Lexaeus on the other hand—that towering behemoth didn't bother to blend in with normal people. Looking at him, you saw a true Nobody without all the embellishing bells and whistles. The only emotion he ever attempted was that of battle rage, and that doesn't count for much in my book; it's more of a primal trait than anything else. That guy couldn't act to save his own hide, and any target he approached knew to scamper away on all fours.

You can see now that all Nobodies are not created equal. It's not a given that a Nobody will play at being human, and the ones that do might not utilize the skill well enough to deceive everyone.

As for me, I'm proud to say that I was the best in the biz when it came to throwing up a façade. No one could _ever_ get into my head—even the top brass. How else do you think I managed to wipe the floor with Marluxia's band of turncoats? I would've grilled the Big Cheese himself if he wasn't such a chicken using Naminé as a shield to get to Sora.

Up until the bitter end, I remained an enigma to all parties involved. Even when the light threw me off my game and it all fell to pieces, my pursuers had no real way of reading my moves. The only reason I got ambushed was because of my growing guilt towards Kairi and Sora. I left myself vulnerable by giving into the surge of new emotions. Rejecting the heart is the best way to stay under the radar, because without it, no one knows what's going on in your head. It's always an act; it's always a lie.

And who better to spot a lie than a consummate actor? I could always sense when someone was disingenuous, even when it came to Nobodies. But Zack…that guy was something else—something treacherous.

At first glance, you'd think his emotions flopped all over the place, at times overflowing like an overabundance of water in a teapot stuffed with pebbles. All that cheer and goodwill; that sympathy and excessive exuberance; that ability to cry in one minute only to laugh it all off in the next; that eerie, 100% accurate lie-detecting skill—the guy was too good to be true. He stuck out more than a bottle of soda pop aboard the Black Pearl. Heck, he picked up a shady, naked guy from off the road without a second's thought and gave him a lift off world. What kind of screwball does that? If it had been me, I wouldn't have braked. A guy wants to snooze in the middle of the road, let him. It's no business of mine if he has a death wish.

But not Zack—no, he wakes the guy up, gives him some clothes, and helps him in every way possible. Sure, you can say he's your typical Mr. Nice Guy offering a friendly hand to all those in need with a grand smile on his face. That's not the way I see it, though. There's only one universal nice guy on the block, and that's Sora. Everyone else obeys the darkness in their hearts, even if they're not aware of it; which means come the end of the day, they don't act without _some_ selfish premise. Altruism is just a myth.

That philosophy is the reason why I didn't trust Zack when I first met him. A self-proclaimed first class soldier stocked with more sharpened blades than King Arthur's Royal Armory—I just knew he was overcompensating for something. I had the guy pegged from the start, but I never expected anything to become of it. He wasn't someone to psychoanalyze and press for answers—just some schmuck to take advantage of until I sucked him dry of resources.

Zack had compulsive lying down to a fine art. I never knew what was going on in that head of his; no one did. His mastery over body language allowed him infinite insight into others while simultaneously closing off his own actions to interpretation. You believed _exactly_ what he wanted you to, and I wasn't immune to his skills. No, the only two who ever caught on to him did so because they comprised two pieces of his _guiding light_. Yet even those two had one heck of a time trying to pin him down fast enough before he could fool them into second-guessing themselves.

So what was that guy's deal? Heh…I can provide you with enough banter to write a novel, but I'm not here to dish out in-depth biographies on a guy who's already paid you a visit.

After my battle against Sora, the first class soldier tracked me to the belfry. The second I saw him I wanted to shove him off the roof—jab him with a chakram, give him fifth degree burns, feed him to the shadows; _anything_ to get him the hell away from me. I didn't want to talk to anyone let alone that goody-goody hyperactive idiot.

But I didn't get a goody-goody hyperactive idiot. No, something far worse paid me a visit.

Zack approached me not with a smile or a bashful rub of his neck, but with a stern, icy glare. From the looks of it I thought he wanted to kill me. But he didn't make a move for his blades. Instead, he sat down next to me and told me a story—_his story_.

I learned the tale of a dead man whose perils mirrored my own. He started from the top, telling me all about where he grew up, who he palled around with, what he dreamed of doing with his life, and yadda, yadda. Let me just sum it up for you:

Zack Fair: a loyal friend, a trusty leader, a skilled swordsman, a protégé and mentor, a Jack-of-all-trades, …_a Nobody_.

Zack Fair was murdered; Zack Fair was reborn.

All the signs were there, but he took such great care in disguising them that I couldn't put the pieces together until he thrust the truth smack into my face. I thought he was just the odd duck in the pond. Who knew he was a crocodile egg sitting in a bird's nest?

I'm an experienced assassin. Lying comes second nature to me and I know how to work the field to my advantage. But Zack was a whole different breed of deceiver from me, and that's why I never again let my guard down around him after that night.

* * *

High atop the Second District belfry under the soft glow of the starlit sky, Axel sat with a harkened ear listening with the utmost care and scrutiny as Zack recounted his alleged tale of death. If what the warrior said proved true, then several years ago a band of Heartless attacked Traverse Town with the intent to spirit away Zack's best friend and protégé, Cloud. Their attempt met with failure at the end of Zack's mighty blade, thus forcing their ringleader to emerge, and in so doing, revealed a truth that both stunned and horrified the two friends long enough for their attacker to gain the battle's advantage.

"Cloud never knew about his birth," Zack said in his flat voice, "and neither did I." He sat next to Axel with his legs dangling off the belfry's roof, his hands sitting idle in his lap with his fingers intertwined. From time to time, his eyes would dart in Axel's direction to study the man's countenance as the tale progressed. Though Axel maintained a steady composure that revealed little of his internal thoughts and reactions, Zack continued to eye him regardless.

"We got the shock of our lives that night as his supposed 'savior' came back to collect. I was tired from fighting that earlier mob of Heartless, and it didn't help any that Darkside rendered my left arm useless. It was a struggle to save Cloud—who was too torn and confused to defend himself from that psychopath. To call him a mad scientist is an understatement. If I hadn't been there, Cloud would've died a thousand deaths under the scalpel."

Zack paused as he feigned disgust with the bitter thoughts pooling into his mind—an act he performed out of reflex in recent years. "Professor Hojo…how could Ansem the Wise ever employ such lowlife scum?" He scoffed and shook his head. "He wanted Cloud; I wouldn't let him get his way. We fought and I fell, but just when he thought he was in the clear, I stopped him. Slashed him in the back and learned he had a surprise waiting for backstabbers."

Another pause befell the story as Zack closed his eyes and held his hand over his chest. "A Heartless lunged out from his wound and struck me dead in the heart." Zack snatched the fabric covering his chest and wrinkled it between the firm grasp of his fingers. A self-spiting smirk twisted across his lips. "I suppose that was my just reward for carrying out such a dishonorable maneuver even as a final act of desperation. Cloud attacked him soon after that, fueled by his grief I suppose. I don't know what happened after that—whether he beat Hojo for good or if the demented doctor scurried away back to his mistress. All I remember was seeing Cloud's teary face for the last time before everything went dark."

The tense hand grabbing at the fleece vest above Zack's ever-still ribcage relaxed and fell back into the soldier's lap. "The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a different world. It was a city—an empty city—draped in darkness and crawling with Heartless. A man found me there and asked for my name. I told him; he laughed and said it wouldn't do, so he gave me a new one and I ran. I ran because anyone who lives amongst the shadows preying on the souls of the dead is no ally of mine." Zack turned his head to look Axel dead in the eyes. "A group of men, who concealed their faces behind dark cloaks, tried to bar my escape from that wretched place. Do you know who they were?"

"Should I?" Axel said, speaking for the first time since the tale's advent.

"You tell me—you, the man who stands before a mirror commenting that his dark apparel reminds him of the _Organization_."

Axel's eyes narrowed. "Are you implying…that you escaped from Organization XIII's castle stronghold?"

"Then you _are_ familiar with the group."

"There's no point in hiding it anymore, not with you going off trying to present yourself as a Nobody."

"I am a Nobody."

"Oh that's a laugh. How can you, of all people, be a Nobody? I saw you cry, for Jiminy Cricket's sake!"

Zack thought for a moment. "You mean when I met Sora for the first time?"

"Yeah." Axel nodded and tapped his pointer finger against Zack's chest. "You _cried_ and hugged the kid with enough joy to power all the lampposts on the block."

Zack let out a dry laugh. "Why do you think I spent so long staring at him wide-eyed before speaking? I waited for the cold air to force my tear walls to shed in order to give the illusion of sincere jubilation."

Axel's jaw unhinged. "You crafty—you went to such great lengths to feign emotion?"

"I've learned a long time ago to use my surroundings for camouflage on the battlefield, and the strategy works just as well in aiding me to blend in with normal people."

"Cleverly disguised as someone who cares, is that it?"

"In sum."

Axel averted his gaze towards the plaza below and reflected on the new information. It all seemed too surreal to hold any weight in truth. He thought back to earlier in the Resistance's headquarters when everyone suspected him of colluding with the Heartless. That look in Zack's eyes then—when he pressed to know the truth—he looked just like Sora, ready to valiantly jump in to protect his friends from a possible threat. How could someone lacking all emotions manage to produce such an authentic expression rife with feeling that threw even the Organization's most talented pretender off guard? Someone with that kind of character couldn't be underestimated. His true intentions and allegiance remained masked behind a façade that changed in relation to the circumstances.

"How long have you been at this?"

"Just about six years now."

"Do your pals know?"

"No."

"Afraid they'll cut you down like a Heartless?"

"After everything they've suffered through, I've determined retaliation to be their response. Of course Aerith is quite attached to Zack, so she would naturally act to defend me even in the direst of circumstances. But Leon would not allow me to live. He's a good leader—a good battle commander. To him, the living take priority over empty shells crafted in the likeness of his friends."

"So you've been playing them this whole time and they don't suspect a thing?"

"I've taken great care to ensure they will never learn the truth," Zack replied in a cold, calculating voice, not at all fazed by the meaning and weight of his admission. It disturbed Axel all the more.

"You must be a master at reading body language. It's not easy to pull off half the level of sincerity you've managed."

"You're speaking from experience."

The statement caused Axel's face to contort. "You've been watching me this whole time—analyzing my every move. You think you know me, is that it? Think you can read me like an open book?"

"I can read just about anyone like a book," Zack replied with his dull, even tone. "I've spent years mastering the art of body language so that I could react appropriately in any situation and not arouse suspicion. An unexpected byproduct of this skill allows me to determine a person's intentions just by studying their posture and movements. The body is an open window to the heart. Even the tiniest, most negligible twitch can give away a person's thoughts."

"You've just defeated your own logic. If that's all it takes to be a human lie detector, then it's impossible for you to have 'believed' me earlier as you so professed. Nobodies don't have hearts, so it doesn't matter how many open windows or doors you peer through; you'll be greeted by emptiness."

Zack's lips twisted in a cunning smirk. "But you're not just a Nobody, now are you, Axel?"

Axel's eyes narrowed as his body instinctively reeled from the soldier.

"No, you're something else. There's something special about you." Again Zack's cold, probing eyes scanned every inch of Axel's frame, making their target feel like a vulnerable specimen under the microscope.

"What makes you say that?" Axel asked, trying to keep his cool. But he found it difficult to resist the urge to slam his fist in Zack's face and whack the soldier off the roof. "How do you even know I'm a Nobody? It could be my hobby organizing people with black cloak fetishes."

"Oh, you're a Nobody alright. I knew it from the moment I met you. Your steps echo with a darkened hollowness; your eyes are thick layers of opaque glass concealing the emptiness within; your words are expelled from the deep vacuum of nothingness twisting within your core. You are a Nobody, Axel, and yet despite all of this…" Zack leaned back and folded his arms, contemplating the continuation of his reply. He searched for the precise words, taking care to bring forth all the data and information he noted on his subject from the onset of their meeting.

"Despite this…there's a certain _flare_ to you. Periodically, sincerity bursts from your actions. Genuine feelings permeate from within the void, signaling brief, faint flickers of light. Which leads me to one conclusion." Zack turned back towards Axel and, mimicking the man's earlier gestures, jabbed him in the chest with his pointer finger. "You, Axel, have a heart."

All Axel could do in turn was grunt and grit his teeth. Neither witty comment nor swift retaliatory strike could save him from the Nobody soldier's discovery. Denying the truth proved futile since Zack was too skilled and persistent to let the matter go unresolved.

"What happens now? You want to haul me back to the Organization? You want to turn me into their lab rat—get me to cough up my secret? I'm not going back there; never again." Axel clenched his fists. "I'll fight you every step of the way!" After the taxing fight against Sora, he was a sitting duck and his body harnessed all his remaining energy in preparation for the inevitable battle that would determine his fate.

To his astonishment, however, Zack didn't make a reach for his blades. Instead, he took a minute to take in Axel's defensive outburst only to reply with a raucous laughter that ill befitted his typical Nice Guy persona. "You think it's funny?"

"Of course I do," Zack replied dryly after regaining his composure. "You think me an Organization patsy? Haven't you been paying attention? I left that place. I owe no allegiance to that group or any of its members."

"Then why keep me around knowing who and what I am? Or do you think they sent me to bring _you_ back, is that it? I know how they deal with traitors and it's no tea party, so your suspicion isn't unwarranted."

Zack shook his head. "You're no spy. What would someone with a heart, as small as it may be, gain from carrying out the Organization's plot to assassinate me? No, you have other plans—plans involving the Keyblade."

Axel fell silent.

"Don't bother denying it. You knew about him from the start, and just now you tried to cut out his heart. I want to learn but two things from you." Zack held up his hand and extended two fingers to illustrate his point. "Why did you attack the Keyblade master and what do you intend to do with him? Depending on your answers, I can either prove a valuable ally or a deadly enemy."

"To protect him," came Axel's curt reply. To say he didn't trust the enigmatic soldier was a gross understatement. Every word spoken from the Nobody's mouth carried with it veiled intentions to ensnare his prey unawares. With over ten years of experience into the world of trickery and deception, Axel knew how to handle probing inquiries by suspicious parties. He had only to reflect on his own past tactics to know a deceiver's motives.

Though in all his haste to rebuff Zack's inquiry, Axel neglected to prioritize the soldier's line of questioning. It struck him odd that the Nobody would not endeavor to garner more information on how another Nobody could come into the possession of a heart, but Axel did not set that fact as the centerpiece for his reaction. In his view, many other important questions went unasked such as the reason for his flight from the Organization, how he came to rest naked in the middle of a major highway, or how he knew of Sora at all yet alone where to find him. Because of this, Axel looked past the questions themselves and focused solely on the act of inquiry, deeming it a sly trap by a hostile party to achieve an ulterior goal.

"Your definition of protection is the removal of his heart?" Zack asked, furrowing his brows to reflect his confusion.

"I already answered you."

"That's it? No further detail or explanation?"

"That's all you'll get out of me."

Zack sighed. "I've asked you once before to explain yourself to me. You answered by saying 'it's not that simple'. I believe that, and so I'm not asking you to explain the technical stuff. All I want to know is your intentions towards the Keybearer."

"You'll have to excuse my reluctance to cooperate with a con artist."

"Very well," said the soldier, getting to his feet. "Your fate is decided."

"You've got a lot of—"

A dagger cut Axel off mid-sentence as Zack thrust the blade with swift reflex. Axel summoned a chakram to deflect the attack just before it could tear into his abdomen. "What are you playing at?" he growled, springing to his feet and jumping backwards a good distance away from his assailant.

"I've already told you: you've signed your death warrant!" Zack shouted in a vicious, cold-blooded voice as his features contorted with darkness. With a crack of his neck, he yanked out his two backswords and charged towards Axel, who dodged his double slash attack and jumped down to the plaza.

"Why is it that every time I step into the Second District, I always break into a fire dance?" Axel grunted as he braced himself for the oncoming onslaught.

Daggers rained from the sky, giving preamble to Zack's descent. The second his boots touched the ground, the soldier launched himself towards his target and unleashed a ferocious string of attacks. Each successive blow hit harder and harder, forcing Axel to channel all his energy into his chakrams in defense. But the increasing magnitude of Zack's mighty swordplay began to take its toll on the already weakened warrior. Axel grew weary the longer he remained on the defensive and he knew he wouldn't last for much longer.

The violent assault trapped Axel in place. If he ventured to move outside the protective zone of his chakram defense to flee or give himself more space, the fast and furious blades would have cut him at least half a dozen times. He maintained his position, suffering through each brute clang of the sword against his chakrams until the pressure escalated too much for his already battered body to handle. Axel's knee buckled and Zack swung full-force to deliver the final blow.

One sword slammed against the chakram shielding Axel's head while the other took advantage of the fighter's loss of balance and moved to stab his exposed abdomen. Axel gasped, taking in a lungful of air and sucked in his gut to further extend the time of impact. The sliver of a second bought him enough time to ignite his body, and with the extra source of oxygen swirling in his lungs, the explosion tripled in magnitude and forced Zack to double over clutching at his irritated eyes. Axel wasted no time going on the rebound. He corrected his posture and sprinted towards the distracted soldier, slapping away the two backswords and taking the offensive.

But before he could land a single strike, Zack launched his legs forward in an attempt to trip Axel and bounded to his feet unsheathing his broadswords. He then let out a chilling battle cry that rang in Axel's ears long after the clash of metal that sounded in its wake. Flames exploded from the chakrams as they met with cold steel, sending embers flying back towards Zack's already injured eyes. But the soldier moved quickly on his feet and craned his head back long enough to avoid further damage to his face but fast enough to parry Axel's flurry of attacks.

The battle waged on with fancy footwork on both ends, and damage to both warriors aplenty. Eventually, Axel managed to smack the swords out of Zack's grip. Short on weapons, Zack resorted to using his hunting knives, forcing him to get closer to the living torch than he desired. Axel's fire magic gave him a huge boost, and though his battle fatigue continued to increase at an exponential rate, he refused to relent. His sheer determination to survive pushed his limits farther than ever as he ignored his burning lungs, dehydrated mouth, and sweat soaked, achy body to meet Zack blow for blow.

"Why do you continue to persist?" Zack shouted as he smacked away a fireball and charged in with a counterattack. "What do you possibly have to gain from this struggle?"

Axel jumped back from the knives and flung his chakrams into Zack's abdomen. "Everything!"

"And you'd kill the Keybearer to get what you want?"

"I don't care what you think of me." The chakrams returned to Axel's clutch where they twirled in circles between his fingers. "I know I did something stupid and I'll regret it for the rest of my life, but I won't just give up here! I want to protect Sora; that's all that matters to me!" He lunged himself high into the sky, summoning a wave of flames that crashed into the plaza below and set the whole place ablaze. "And you're not going to get in my way!"

Everything was clear to him then; his mind released all doubts and worries, choosing to focus instead on the truth. He made many mistakes long before he ever attacked Sora, but despite the life of darkness and destruction he led during his days with the Organization, he remembered the one truth he continued to berate himself over ever forgetting: _he had regained a portion of his heart_. No other member of Organization XIII walked away with a heart; no other Nobody could lay claim to being given a second chance with a heart. Only Axel found what he sought, and no one else. Sora's light shined its mercy on his soul and returned to him his heart, and it would have been a terrible injustice for Axel to just abandon his charge after a single mishap. He owed it to Sora—he owed it to himself—to continue forward and prove his worth.

The Second District radiated like an inferno, with wall-to-wall flames lining every nook, cranny, and crevice. Zack shielded his eyes from the intense heat and light and curled his upper torso into a defensive stance in preparation for the next round. When Axel touched back down again, the two threw themselves at each other: Axel with his fire-augmented maneuvers and Zack with his swift close-quarters-combat techniques. Each of Axel's connecting attacks caused explosions to the blast from Zack's body, forcing the soldier to draw knife after knife as each of his weapons dropped from his shocked and shaky hands.

In the end, not a single blade remained attached to Zack. He had expended his last knife, using it as a projectile for a last ditch effort. But Axel blocked it with ease. As the flames howled around them, the two warriors stood at a standstill with Axel holding the clear chance at victory. "I know your type well; nothing but falsehoods define you," he said as he gave his chakrams one final twirl. "You're everything I never want to be!"

Zack stood his ground as Axel lunged himself into the air for the final time, enflamed weapons at the ready to deliver the finishing blow. Unyielding, the soldier stared at his attacker with a stern, threatening gaze that dared him to come closer if he wished to gamble away his life. But Axel refused to give into intimidation and accelerated his descent.

Two slashes echoed into the nighttime sky and the flames dispersed. Metal struck against metal in a thunderous roar as Zack produced a large machete from out of nowhere and swung it like a baseball bat straight into Axel's oncoming chakrams. Axel, staggered from the impact, could do nothing to spare his body as it flew back and collided into the ground. An awful ringing filled his ears as he struggled to get to his feet. But his movements were restrained as a large pressure appeared on his torso. Zack wasted no time in chasing after his opponent and leaped onto his stunned body, pinning him down and forcing him in place.

"Any last words?" asked the callous soldier as he pushed the sharpened blade of his machete to Axel's throat.

* * *

A/N: This was an immensely difficult chapter to articulate. I began this back in August after posting Chapter 12, but I couldn't decide on the correct approach. You can't judge from your perspective, but this chapter took on many forms before its final product. Some variations excluded the Axel excerpt, and up until the end I was debating whether or not to include it. I went through three versions of his excerpt before finally settling on the current one.

By far, the most difficult task was getting Zack's behavior just right. He's intended to be an enigmatic character—one that's next to impossible to understand without knowing every last detail about his story. Is he good, bad, indifferent, or an opportunist? Has anything he's said thus far been the truth? What's his agenda and to whom does he swear allegiance? I wanted to turn everyone's perception of him upside down and I can only hope that I have succeeded in this. If all goes according to plan, he'll keep you guessing until the bitter end.

So yes, even though this chapter is not as lengthy as its predecessor, I've put much work into its completion, which is why it has taken so long to publish.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

While lying flat with his back against the plaza's hard, concrete ground, severe pain weighed every bone, muscle, and tendon within Axel's body. As he struggled to stay conscious, he locked his weary, half-shut eyes with his assailant's in a defiant last stand against the inevitable end. Zack, who held Axel pinned to the ground with the full force of his body, stilled the edge of his machete flush up against Axel's neck in wait to hear the man's final words. Axel could feel the cold metal grazing against his sweaty, heated flesh as he stared into Zack's empty eyes—ones that no longer masked the truth.

"You," Axel rasped, "can go to Hell!"

No other sound followed the embittered words aside from Axel's labored breathing. Then, without warning or prelude of any sort Zack pulled back his machete and slipped the blade into the front of his belt. The soldier rose to his feet and turned his back to Axel, wordlessly focusing his attention on collecting his wayward weapons that lay scattered across the plaza. Bewildered, Axel craned his stiff neck up to gaze at the soldier, but his sight met instead with the source of a peculiar heaviness weighing upon his chest. There, sitting right where Zack previously forced his hand, was a small bottle. Gawking at the tiny thing, Axel's eyes widened as he recognized the familiar azure hue of a mega-potion vial.

"Troublesome," Zack stated in his flat tone as he sheathed a dagger. "That's all life ever is: troublesome."

Axel paid him little to no mind as his attention soon left the vial and fixed solely on the wave of pain rushing all throughout his body. The radiating inferno that fueled his inner flame blew out during the fight, leaving him both deathly pale and frigid. His trembling head shook his already blurred vision away from the bottle, leading his eyes to roll up towards to the hazy image of the surrounding neon signs. On and off flickered the rainbow of lights—on and off like the fire inside Axel; on and off like his will to stay conscious; on and off like his resolve to aid Sora.

"Drink the bottle," Zack ordered, rousing Axel from his pain-induced stupor. "I swiped it off Sora when he was too disoriented to notice, so you'd better make plans to reimburse him."

"Why…?" was all Axel could muster in response.

"Why not?" Zack allowed his words to hang in the air, abandoning them in favor of picking up a broadsword. After mechanically collecting all his weapons save for one wayward dagger that he failed to find, the soldier wandered back to tower over the man he had felled. "Are you too feeble to lift it to your mouth or are you too stupid to realize you'll die if you stay like that much longer?"

"Don't…trust you…"

"You don't have to trust me to drink a mega-potion; you just have to be willing to live, even if life is troublesome. If not, then go on and die already. You've no business here."

So much pain everywhere—in every bruised fiber, singed hair, and fractured bone. Two ways to end the pain, he knew; two ways to liberate himself from pain's bondage, but only one way to escape pain forever. Possessing a heart meant suffering—such came the lesson, and Axel wondered then if fighting for a heart was worth the price. Maybe feeling nothing was a blessing in disguise.

Yet despite the bitter thoughts poisoning his mind, he held on to one truth: Sora never threw in the towel—not once. He remembered the days in Castle Oblivion where the traitors coerced Naminé into rewriting Sora's memories. Through all the doubts and confusion, through every memory lost and replaced, Sora never let go of his resolve; he never ceased to be true to himself even when he failed to remember everything that defined him. His heart remained true and led him down the right path. Heartless, Nobody, and everything in between—no matter what the Darkness threw at the Keybearer, he followed his heart and pushed through the maze of obscurity and oblivion.

Axel drank the bottle. Maybe the heart was worth the struggle, after all.

From the moment the potent, bitter liquid touched his tongue, it permeated all throughout his body and sped up his recovery rate a hundred fold. Within seconds, the once beaten and battered man felt rejuvenated and bounded to his feet.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Don't play games with me!" Axel roared, flames exploding from his body. He summoned his chakrams.

"Empty those hands if you wish to keep them." The threat, like all of Zack's words, fell flat in tone, but Axel didn't doubt the soldier's abilities for a second—not anymore. The two faced off in a stare-down, Axel twirling his chakrams in either hand and Zack standing upright with his hands hanging open and loose for a fast-draw counter.

Several minutes passed before Axel relented. The chakrams vanished back into the flames from whence they came, leaving Axel defenseless should Zack choose to strike. But he doubted the soldier would continue the baseless assault—not if he chose to avoid the finishing blow the first time. The battle's conclusion left Axel with but one pressing question:

"What's your angle?"

"I'm not the one you should be concerned with right now," replied the enigmatic soldier. "Your betrayal has hindered the Keybearer; his resolve wavers. Go and reassure him. Now."

Axel grit his teeth in a feeble attempt to bite back his rage. "Are you insinuating that the only reason you spared me is so I can go apologize to the kid?"

"A happy Keybearer is an efficient Keybearer. How can he journey if he's too busy looking over his shoulder for the next betrayal? Sora declined Donald and Goofy's request to travel with them because of you. This is your mess and now you have to clean it."

"And then what? You kill me in an alley when no one's looking?" Axel scoffed.

"Get _this _memorized," Zack said with a tougher tone as he tapped his strong index finger against Axel's forehead, "you touch him again and I _will_ kill you. I won't stop to chat on the roof; I'll just kill you plain and simple. I'm watching you—always watching—and don't you forget that."

"Like I'd really stick around here and be under surveillance!" Axel retorted, smacking away Zack's hand. "I've got places to go."

"Oh, you won't be going anywhere." The soldier calmly folded his arms. "I'm sure Donald and Goofy have told Leon all about your crazy stunt. He won't let you anywhere near Sora."

"You think that'd stop me?"

Zack let out another bout of laughter that ill befit his usual mock persona. "Need I remind you," he said while reaching into his pocket, "of this?" He pulled out the stick of dynamite he had snatched from Donald earlier and waved it in the air. "Donald didn't like you from the moment you two met, and you really think he'll let you aboard his ship now that you've 'proven' his theory about you? You're stuck here, Axel, if Leon doesn't kill you first."

Every word out of the soldier's mouth infuriated Axel more and more until he clenched his fists so hard they lost all feeling. Zack had an ulterior motive—he just knew it! "You and your death threats—why bother letting me walk at all? I'm sure you can lie your way through the pep talk of the century! What do you _really_ need me for? Or are you just a sadist?"

After slipping the dynamite back in his pocket, Zack turned his back to Axel and started for the First District. "You said it yourself: _don't look a gift horse in the mouth_."

"You punk! Don't walk away from me!" Axel shouted with a stamp of his foot. He made to chase Zack, but a mob of Heartless appeared just as the soldier left through the double-doors. The armored shadows clanked along the pathway towards the Hotel where they sensed the Keyblade.

"Of all the luck!" Axel muttered as he summoned his chakrams once more and cut clean through the Heartless forces. The soldiers fell before they could claw at the Hotel's main door, but reinforcements soon arrived to ram straight into the main lobby. Two extra plump Large Bodies rolled out of the darkness like bowling balls and splintered the doorway. Inside, the clerk managing the front desk jumped at the commotion, throwing all his paperwork up in the air as he scrambled out the emergency exit.

"I don't _want_ to know what they've been feeding you," Axel quipped as he ran and slid behind the nearest roly-poly Heartless. He fired his chakrams in rapid succession into the Large Body's exposed rear and dismissed it back into the shadows. "You guys are real porkers, aren't you? I'm surprised you two only have one heart a pop; you'd think there'd be more stashed under all that fat—like a whole city's worth or something."

Of course, Heartless made for poor conversationalists. The remaining Large Body ignored Axel as it hobbled its way towards the Sky Room, creating miniature fissures along the way. A mob of shadows pooled in to join the big guy as he readied his large belly to ram the door. The shadows popped up from the darkness, twitching and bobbing their tiny heads in eager anticipation for the heart awaiting them on the other side. But Axel saw to it that their ambitions would never be met. He struck them down one shadow at a time, and for the Large Body, he set the hallway aflame and scorched every vulnerable spot on its body.

"Tub o' lard roasting over an open fire—huh, I don't think the trend will catch on."

With a snap of his fingers, Axel dismissed the flames. He waited for a time, eying every nook and cranny to ensure no other shadows were lurking nearby. When none appeared to strike, Axel took several steps forward until he stood face-to-face with the door to the Sky Room. He hesitated for a long while, raising his hand to knock only to lower it and repeat the gesture numerous times before turning his back to the door altogether.

"I can't do this," he thought, clenching his eyes and tightening his fists. "What the hell do I say to him? Heck, what _can_ I say?" Many scenarios played out in Axel's head, yet none jumped out at him as the best way to approach Sora. No one word or group of words seemed adequate enough to express his sincere apology yet alone allow him enough of a foothold to spark the conversation in the first place.

The more he thought about the daunting task, the more impossible it seemed. And so, in the end, he decided against thinking and left it all up to pure, spontaneous action. He swerved around and knocked on the door, no longer caring for a prepared speech. As Sora had always done numerous times in the past, Axel relied on his heart to guide him—even if it was a messy heap of fractured fragments.

* * *

_I've been having these weird thoughts lately—like, is any of this for real or not?_

"Well, why don't you open your eyes and see just how real everything is?"

Sora sprung from his bed, startled by the sudden voice. "Who said that?" he asked, darting his gaze all across room. But he saw no one and began to wonder if he had dreamed the whole thing.

"Could you please not move your head around so fast?" the voice pleaded. "It's made me awful dizzy…"

"Where are you?" Sora went to turn his head towards the sound of the voice but stopped himself and took to rolling his eyes as far to the side as they could.

"Just give me a second—almost got it…"

The voice grunted as its owner struggled something fierce and then exhaled a sigh of relief. Seconds later, Jiminy Cricket jumped from Sora's shoulder and landed on the boy's knee.

"Sorry about that," Jiminy apologized while straightening his top hat. "My foot got stuck after you nestled yourself into the pillow. Nasty stuff that hair gel; acts just like tar!"

"What were you doing in my hair, little guy?" Sora asked bewildered.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Jiminy Cricket! It's a pleasure to meet you, Sora!"

"You know my name?"

Jiminy gave his chin a thoughtful rub. "I guess I should start from the top, huh? A good back story should just about answer any questions you have."

"I'm not really in the mood for stories…"

"Well, sir, you'd best hark an ear anyway because this is for your own good!" Jiminy said while jabbing Sora with his umbrella. "I saw the fight between you and Axel, and I know how shaken the battle's left you. You told Zack as much yourself."

Sora's shoulders slumped and his eyes fell to the floor. "I don't want to talk about that right now."

"Maybe not, but you need to hold your head up and face your problems. They won't go away until you do."

Every word struck true; Sora couldn't deny it. But at the same time, he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and pretend the battle had never happened. One pressing thought remained dominant in his mind, a consoling belief that he was still sleeping on the island and dreaming a terrible nightmare. The Keyblade, the Heartless, the Resistance, the Order, Axel—maybe they didn't exist.

"There you go nodding off again!"

"Ouch!" Sora rubbed the sore spot on his leg where Jiminy had pinched him. "What'd you do that for?"

"Are you going to pay attention to me or would you rather fall into a fit of depression and stay bedridden for the next few weeks?"

Sora sighed. "Sorry…"

"Listen, Sora: I heard your whole exchange with Zack, about how Axel helped you defeat a monster only to become one himself. His duality is clearly taking a terrible toll on you, and if you don't confront it right here and now, it'll fester inside your heart causing all sorts of problems. So let's talk. I want to help you; that's why I jumped from Goofy's hat into your hood before Zack could escort you out the door."

Taking a moment to consider Jiminy's words, Sora associated the whole ordeal with picking at a healing scab. He needed time to rest and heal, he reasoned. The thought of Axel triggered the horrifying image of wild eyes and the crackling of hellfire. To confront such a wicked vision left him pale and trembling. But Jiminy's words rang true in Sora's heart. Regardless of his reluctance, he knew facing up to the fact was the best possible solution; he knew it was the only way to move forward.

"I thought," he began, choosing his words with care, "that a person who fights alongside you and shields you from harm would be considered a friend…and…"

"Yes?"

"I thought that…" Sora paused, then let out a dejected sighed and shook his head. "Maybe I'm just misinterpreting what happened."

"What _did_ happen?"

Again Sora hesitated, but he forced himself to push through and explain the full details of the battle. He told Jiminy about the plan to deceive Hook and the transition from a mock fight to a deadly, real one.

"I see," Jiminy hummed. "So instead of pulling his punches, Axel went full swing."

"It's like he became someone else, Jiminy," Sora concluded, "almost as if the Axel I met when I first came here and the Axel I fought against are two different people. I saw a darkness around him that I never noticed before."

"Darkness?"

Sora dropped his gaze to the floor. "I felt a cold and hollow aura around him."

"Hmm…what a pickle." Jiminy furrowed his eyebrows and caressed his chin. "But you still think that the friendly Axel is genuine?"

"I thought he was…"

"No, no; I mean, do you still believe—at this very moment—that somewhere inside him is that same Axel who shielded you from the monster?"

"I want to believe," Sora answered without pause.

"Then it's settled!"

"What is?"

"You're going to talk to Axel."

Sora almost choked. "W-what?"

"Now don't be like that!" Jiminy scolded. "You said it yourself: you want to believe there's something good inside him, but you're confused about his recent actions. Think about it, Sora: you're hurting inside because a friend went and did something you don't rightfully understand. So what do friends do when they're hurt?"

"They confront each other, but—"

"I know you're scared; he _did_ deal you a great deal of injury, after all. That's indisputable. But you mustn't give up! You're the Keyblade's chosen one, after all. If you can't confront a friend, then who _can_ you confront?"

There it was again—a reminder of why all the darkness and tragedy in the universe homed in on him. Sora grew to detest the Keyblade and wished the accursed thing chose someone else for a wielder—someone more capable to handle all the misfortune associated with it.

Sora leaned forward, cradling his head in his hands. "Why me, Jiminy? Why me out of everyone else in all the worlds out there?"

"That's not something I can answer, Sora. All I can tell you is you've got the Keyblade now, so you'd better make the best of the circumstances. You have a lot of responsibility. It'll be tough, but with support, training, and a spot more confidence, I know you can do anything you set your mind to."

"What makes you so sure?"

To that, Jiminy let out a small chuckle. "Sora, you helped steer Traverse Town away from total annihilation! How many people can say that? You need to stop wondering 'why me' and start giving yourself more credit. Follow your heart, and above all, listen to your conscience." Jiminy gave a proud tip of his hat for that last bit of advice.

"Yeah, you're right, Jiminy," Sora stated with newfound resolve. "I need to—what was that?"

"Hmm?"

"Shh!" Sora shot his gaze towards the door and strained his ears to pick up on the slightest sound. A thunderous crash soon echoed from outside accompanied by a small tremor. Only seconds passed before an explosion went off and the smell of fire seeped into the room. In one fluid motion, Sora scooped Jiminy up in one hand while summoning the Keyblade in the other and hopped off the bed.

"Gosh! You don't think it's the Heartless?" Jiminy fretted.

"It might be," Sora whispered. "Stay here where it's safe." He lowered Jiminy down to a nearby table decorated with a clock and potted plant before tiptoeing closer to the door. A voice sounded from the hallway followed by another loud crash. Sora tightened his grip on the Keyblade. The closer he drew to the door, the louder the commotion outside grew until, without warning, it ceased. Silence befell the hallway.

The Keybearer waited a moment before raising a slow, cautious hand to the doorknob. He inhaled a deep breath, psyching himself out for a potential battle. But a sudden knock at the door startled him and he stumbled backwards a couple of feet. "Who is it?" he ventured to ask, trying hard to keep his voice level despite the fear creeping down his spine.

"It's Axel."

The color drained from Sora's face. Both nervous and uncertain, he looked to Jiminy. The cricket made elaborate gestures to goad the Keybearer forward, whispering: "Opportunity's knocking on your door! Go on and answer it! Go, go!"

"I know I'm probably the last guy you want to see right now," Axel continued, "but I really need to talk to you. Can you please open the door?"

Sora could hear the beat of his heart pounding loud in his ears as he clutched the hilt of the Keyblade tight enough to lose the feeling in his fingers. For a moment, his feet were glued to the floor with his legs refusing to budge an inch. But Jiminy's persistent whispering coaxed the Key wielder to raise his arms and unlock the door from a distance using his blade.

The audible click of the unfastening lock gave prelude to Axel's entrance. He slowly turned the knob and let his foot nudge the door open while his two hands were raised in the air to show he came in peace. "Look, no chakrams," he said. "I can't summon them, either, since I left them to rest on the adjacent wall."

"What do you want?" Sora asked, cutting to the chase. He continued clutching the Keyblade like a lifeline.

Axel let out a dejected sigh. "I was expecting this, but I didn't think it'd actually hurt this much." He took another step forward to fully enter the room. "Sora, I can't tell you how sorry I am. I didn't set out with the intention to hurt you—it just happened."

"How does something like that 'just happen'?" Sora cried, the pain evident in his voice. "It's like saying you accidentally dropped a bucket of water! 'It just happened.'"

Pausing for a moment to study the contortions of anger and sorrow along Sora's face, Axel felt as though a sword pierced him straight through the chest. To see Sora like that—to know that he was the one responsible for hurting the kid so—it tore into Axel harder than any Heartless claw.

Another rushing torrent of words circled within his head desperately searching for a way to ease the tension and offer adequate apology. Feeling his resolve wavering, he struggled to maintain a calm composure while grasping at the fastest response to hit his conscience. Before he could stop the uncensored words from bumbling out of his mouth, he said the one thing he could never take back—the one thing he could never again deny.

"It's because I'm a Nobody."

* * *

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

Here's a lesson I learned the hard way: having a heart, no matter how small or fractured, means one thing that's easy to overlook: _you have a heart_. It's that simple, and it's enough to make me laugh at how ignorant I was back then. I thought that after only just picking up some tiny bits of a heart, I wouldn't have been susceptible to such a vast array of emotions right off the bat. But no, I was all over the spectrum. Anger, fear, doubt, hatred, joy, relief—I'm hard-pressed to think of an emotion I _didn't_ feel that night!

Narrowing down my feelings from that specific incident at the Hotel, however, is no easy task. To say I felt unnerved in that moment is a gross understatement. Even a word like "terror" doesn't do it justice. What I felt as I stood there looking into that kid's hurt and disillusioned eyes is something that gets lost in translation. No matter how I try to describe it to you, no amount of words can take the cake. I felt myself go pale and my legs were shaking as if trying to keep steady aboard the Pearl in the middle of a hurricane. I didn't have my sea legs—not for Sora, and not for uncensored self-admission.

I was panicking to say the least, and Sora could see that. It didn't take much for him to realize that a _Nobody_ didn't refer to some faceless guy in a crowd—that I didn't mean myself as an antisocial loner lacking any communal worth. He wanted to learn more, and I wanted to run away and jump off the belfry.

Maybe you think I was overreacting, but put yourselves in my shoes. For once, I wanted to be the good guy—clean slate, remember? I started out thinking it was my big chance to leave behind my dark past and pretend it never happened. But I couldn't even go _one day_ without falling back into routine! Not one day! The second I met Sora I almost killed him! Where was the old Axel? I'll tell you where—right _here_. He never left!

The question, as you so eloquently put it, is whether or not a man can change if given a second chance. Can he change or is he doomed to repeat the past's mistakes?

Sounds like a simple "yes" or "no" question on the surface; either he can or he can't, but you have to take all the variables into consideration. The memories of my time in the Organization stayed with me and influenced my behavior in ways I couldn't foresee. I thought I could leave my old self behind without much of a problem, but my subconscious was submersed in repressed, unresolved darkness. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I harbored all my old doubts and fears. But I don't need to tell _you_ all about that, now do I?

Suffice to say that standing there in Sora's room that night, I would have spoken to you words of doom, oblivion, and utter pessimism. I was trapped and I felt too paralyzed by Sora's piercing gaze to move for the door. In that moment, two choices presented themselves to me: I could either tell Sora the whole truth or I could stay silent while his hands flexed even tighter around the Keyblade's hilt.

Did I think he'd really strike me? No, Sora's not the type to attack without prompt. He's a defensive fighter, you see. He'll only attack if attacked in turn, or in the defense of someone else.

I didn't fear attack from him; what I feared was rejection. I didn't want to lose what little—if any—remained of his trust in me, nor did I want to lose the opportunity to salvage our badly wounded friendship. My silence would destroy everything I worked so hard to build, but likewise, my confession would open a can of worms. I'd have to let Sora in on all my dark secrets and that would shed a very negative light on his overall perception of me. Either way you look at it, I would be branded an enemy.

So what did I ultimately decide? Heh, what do you _think_ I did? But I'll bet you want more details, so here—stuff your brains full of this:

I remembered Zack.

Why did he pop up in my head? It's rather simple: he represented everything I now vowed to oppose. I didn't want to be a cold-blooded killer stalking about the shadows or feigning my existence in order to get close to a target. Honesty was the only way to prove that I was different from a real Nobody—to prove that I really stood a chance at changing into something better. Maybe it would mean nothing to Sora, but it meant everything to me. I had to prove to _myself_ that I had a shot at life before I could prove it to anyone else, because standing there twitching and shaking did little else but kill the faith I once held so strongly that I would succeed. Being honest and facing the consequences for my actions—something the old Axel _never_ did save for on his deathbed—was the best possible proof I could present to myself to rekindle the flames of hope.

So I did it. I asked him if I could shut the door so no one else would hear what I was about to tell him. He looked uneasy at the mere thought of being in a closed space with the man who almost murdered him. Who could blame him? For all he knew, I popped up to "finish the job." But instead of coming right out with a "no," he asked me why. I told him that the information I wanted to share could get me killed if it fell in the wrong hands.

You know what's great about Sora? He's not an idiot. If someone like Jafar said that to him, he'd scowl and shout: "No way! You want to talk to me, then go on and do it in the open! Anything you have to say to me is fit enough to be heard by everyone else."

But for me, even though it was just a fraction of a second, I could see his emotions flip-flop from caution to concern. He believed me; he knew I was sincere. Sora's heart always speaks to him, and in the times the kid would actually hark an ear, he never found himself gone astray. That night was one of those times, and he allowed me to shut the door and approach him closer so that I could tell him my life story in a voice barely above a whisper.

I omitted nothing save for my origin in a parallel universe. At some point, I grabbed a chair and sat down since I couldn't support my own weight anymore. In truth, what weighed my body down were the chains of the past. The more I divulged, the more the heavy burden threatened to break me in two. When I heard myself admitting the presence of darkness within my heart, I nearly bit off my tongue. There's one thing you never do: you never tell the Keybearer of Light that there is darkness inside of you. He's obligated to destroy it, and often times, that means he's obligated to destroy _you._

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I couldn't fathom what the Light's championed hero would want with a guy like me. Even with a second chance…I can't erase what happened in the past; I can't reject that part of myself, because if I do, I can't ever build on it and learn to grow away from it. At the same time, fear and doubt fester in the shadows of redemption. Without even meeting him or speaking with him upon my initial arrival in the second universe, I decided right then and there on a subconscious level that Sora would never accept me. That's why it was easy to give into the idea that only Roxas would approve of who and what I was. Fear of the unknown is what gives rise to the easy acceptance of the temptation to embrace what's already known.

I feared what he'd think of me if he knew the truth, but regardless, I told Sora everything and was prepared to face the consequences.

* * *

"That's my whole story," Axel concluded. "There's something inside of me—something dark—but I want to fight it. Sora, I came here to this town knowing you'd be here; I came to ask that you help heal my heart." He paused, questioning whether or not to pursue his second objective. In the end, he undertook an "all-or-nothing" mentality and dared to add: "I also came here to join you on your quest. I want to help you fight the darkness threatening the universe while you help me fight the darkness eating away at my newborn heart."

The silence that befell the room after Axel announced his proposal filled the man with such worry and anxiety that he battled with himself to resist the urge to bolt from his seat and pace out into the hallway. Sora held his tongue for a long time, choosing to well digest the mountain of information presented to him. In all fairness, it was a lot to swallow and he needed adequate time to deliberate over the proper course of action. But the longer the silence persisted, the more Axel pictured Sora's verdict hanging over him like a guillotine. When he finally did speak, Axel snapped his full attention on the boy and bit back a swarm of pleas that threatened to interject him.

"I just have one question."

"Yes?"

"Will you…attack me again?"

Axel didn't want to lie—he couldn't. Not anymore. "I don't ever _want_ to hurt you, but I can't guarantee the darkness won't take over again."

"I see." Sora's face went stern and serious. "Then I'll just have to stop you."

"What?"

In a burst of light, the Keyblade vanished from Sora's hand and the Keybearer took several steps closer to Axel. "Well, you came here for my help, right? I can't turn you away—not in good conscience," Sora replied with a quick glance at the table. "If you want to fight the darkness inside of you, then I'll help. Should it take over again, I'll beat it back and stop you from doing anything you might regret."

It took a moment for Sora's words to register, but when they did, a surge of raw happiness erupted all throughout Axel's body. He jumped from the chair with an ear-to-ear smile wide enough to hurt. "You mean I can come with you?" he asked like an excited puppy.

"Yup," Sora said with a nod. "Let me go meet up with Donald and Goofy, and then we can leave."

Those two names killed the mood. Axel's smile collapsed into a deep frown, and he stumbled back towards the chair. "Let's just go by ourselves. What do you need those two for?"

"Hey, now—Donald and Goofy need me just as much as you do," Sora replied, confused by Axel's resistance. "Besides, I'll take all the help I can get. The more friends, the merrier—right?"

"Wrong. Those two won't let me anywhere _near_ you after that battle!"

"We'll just explain what happened."

"That duck never liked me; he won't listen," Axel pressed. "And besides, you're the victim here, Sora. They'll just think I brainwashed you or something." Not to mention Zack was probably spreading lies that very moment to ensure Axel would never leave town.

Sora cupped his chin in thought. "Hmm, well…"

"I can help!" said Jiminy, gaining the others' attention.

"Cricket, you're here too?" Axel cringed and sweat glistened from his forehead. The cricket heard the whole thing; the cricket knew his secret.

"Thank your lucky stars that I am," Jiminy replied with a shake of his umbrella.

Sora went over to the table and scooped Jiminy up in his hand, bringing the cricket closer to himself and Axel. "Will you help us convince the others that Axel isn't a villain, Jiminy?"

"After listening to your story, Axel," said the cricket, "I agree that the others won't look too kindly on you. I know their temperaments well, and although it pains me to admit it, they'll be quick to judge. That's not to say they're bad folks, but with the disappearance of King Mickey, everyone's on edge and looking to point fingers. Therefore, I'll honor your request and keep word about the Nobodies under my hat for now."

At least Jiminy would keep his secret safe, but that did little to assuage Axel's worries. "What about your two buddies?"

"You'll find I have a lot of sway with Donald and Goofy. As for the Resistance—even if they were to question your actions, I'll make sure nothing serious becomes of their inquiries."

"You'd do all that for me?" Axel never expected someone from Disney Castle to actually give him the time of day yet alone side with him. "What's the catch?"

"_Catch_?" Jiminy let out a small chuckle. "I suppose you could call it that. Axel, I'll support you so long as you agree to my terms: I want to travel with you from now on and act as your conscience."

"You want to _what_?"

"It's the only way. You want to regain your heart, don't you?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"But nothing!" With a single bound, Jiminy left Sora's hand and settled on Axel's shoulder. "What's a heart without a conscience, hmm? It seems to me you're having trouble abstaining from temptation, and that's something I can help you with. If what you've said is sincere, then you need a conscience because Sora can't do everything alone. Hark an ear, Axel, and let me help guide you towards the light."

Jiminy's words weighed heavily on Axel's mind, even if his first impulse was to disregard the whole bit. He didn't _want_ a cricket for a conscience, nor did he want to journey with the dumb duck and klutz knight. But no other option presented itself; either he agreed to the set terms, or Sora would leave without him. In truth, the fact that both Sora and Jiminy accepted him regardless of what they knew of his past slanted Axel's thoughts in such a way that he soon relented.

"Alright, cricket; you have a deal," he grumbled begrudgingly.

"Good! Now don't you worry about a thing, Axel. I'll help you steer clear of the darkness; you have my word."

"You can trust Jiminy's guidance," Sora assured. "And with all of us working together, we'll have your heart healed in no time!"

Sora's encouragement helped Axel's nerves by a tiny margin, but he still dreaded the idea of traveling with the Disney circus.

Jiminy cleared his throat and extended his umbrella towards the door. "Now that that's settled, what's say we get going, fellas?"

The three left the Hotel and headed for the First District: Sora with his hopes high, Jiminy with a new mission, and Axel with conflicting feelings of joy and annoyance.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Goofy sat hunched at one of the café's tables, idly poking at a half-eaten piece of chocolate cake while watching Donald pace up a storm. After the two briefed Leon on the situation, they accompanied the Resistance team to the First District to prepare the victory party. Yuffie and Aerith saw to the party decorations while Cid and Leon negotiated the menu. But Donald saw little reason for celebration. The Keyblade master up and rejected the invitation to come join the King's men on their journey, and it was all Donald could do to stop himself from marching straight into that hotel to clonk the kid unconscious and drag his body onto the Gummi Ship.

"No good, rotten, lousy little…" Donald muttered under his breath before pausing to slurp the last few drops of his milkshake. He slammed the emptied glass on the table with another bout of incoherent mutterings and then resumed pacing.

"Another hot fudge ice cream shake, sir?" asked a nearby waiter.

"Did I tell you to stop? Keep 'em coming!" snapped the agitated magician.

"Well you don't have to be so nasty about it." The waiter took the glass and shuffled into the back kitchen.

On and on Donald paced until a noticeable groove began to form into the ground. All the while, Goofy watched with a long, disheartened face. There had to be something he could say to his chum to ease his mind. Sora just needed some time, Goofy knew—time to calm himself after such a harsh fight and regain his bearings. But Donald didn't know the meaning of the word "patience". With each successive step he took, more ideas fed into his plots and schemes to hurry Sora off the world and into the stars. It was up to Goofy to shield Sora for as long as possible before his buddy could make an even greater mess of things.

"Hey, Donald," Goofy began as he set down his fork, "why don't we help Aerith and Yuffie with the balloons? You like blowing balloons, don'tcha?"

"Are you saying I'm full of hot air?" Donald huffed with an angry twitch of his brow.

Goofy shook his hands in defense. "No, no! I'm just sayin' it might be fun to help out with the party—you know, while we wait for Sora to come back and all."

"Phooey!" Donald snatched his milkshake from the waiter's hand before he could even say a word. "The only fun I'll have is tracking down King Mickey with the help of that Key, whether he likes it or not!" Donald took a long slurp from his crazy straw and then shoved the emptied glass into the waiter's still open hand. All the ice cream in the world couldn't hope to cool the hotheaded duck, yet Goofy persevered.

"I want to get goin' and track down the King just as much as you do, but Sora needs some time to rest. So what's say we do a little preparin' for the trip ahead while we wait?"

"What _kind_ of preparing?" The only thing Donald wanted to prepare was a cudgel and a boy-sized sack.

"Well, uh, let's see…" With a thoughtful scratch to the head, Goofy eyed the nearby Item Shop. It was a long shot, but it could work if he played his cards right. "We've got a long journey ahead of us, so we'd best do some shoppin' for supplies. We'll need camping equipment and lots of ethers to replenish your magic."

Donald stopped pacing and took to tapping his nervous foot while he considered Goofy's proposal. "Hmm…that sounds like a good idea."

"Ahyuck, yeah!"

"Maybe they sell tranquilizers and handcuffs in there."

"That's the spir—wait, what?"

Donald shoved his hat forward with determination as he marched towards the shop's doors. "Come on, Goofy!"

With a weary sigh, Goofy abandoned his cake and rushed after his buddy.

Upon entering the shop, Donald jumped in shock when he saw his nephews managing the place.

"Hi, Unca Donald!" they all said in unison as if they were the sweetest little angels in all the worlds and would never even _think_ of doing something mischievous to their dear uncle. All they needed were the golden halos and angel wings to complete the image, but Donald could see straight through their rouse.

"What are you boys up to?" their uncle asked with narrowed eyes.

"Up to?" Huey asked in mock innocence. "Why, whatever do you mean, Unca Donald?"

"Don't play cute with me!" Donald said as he stomped towards the register. "You three are always plotting. Fess up!"

"Why, Unca Donald! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Dewey scolded. "We're just three, young ducks looking to earn enough to feed and shelter ourselves in this harsh, cruel world we live in."

Donald didn't buy that sob story for a second. "Feed and shelter yourselves? What are you even _doing_ here? I left you three in Duckburg with Uncle Scrooge!"

"Unca Scrooge kicked us out."

"What!"

Louie nodded. "Yeah. He said we needed to pull our own weight for once and stop mooching off his hospitality."

"If you can call peeling potatoes, washing windows, and sweeping chimneys for him _hospitality_," Dewey grumbled.

"Unca Scrooge told us that we had to learn the value of a munny," Huey continued. "So we opened up an item shop."

"So far away from home?" Donald asked.

"There wasn't much demand for weapons and magic potions in Duckburg," Louie explained. "Well, unless you count the boatload of orders we got from the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell, that is."

Donald's face turned red and he just about jumped through the roof. "You sold weapons to the most wanted criminals in that world?" he shouted.

"Of course not!" Dewey contended. "They could only pay us in counterfeit bills, and what kind of businessducks would we be if we accepted forgeries?"

"No watermark, no serial number, no service—that's our motto," said Huey. "When we learned that the Resistance was short on supplies, we hitched a ride with one of their couriers and came here to do business."

"Sounds reasonable enough," Donald hummed, although he still remained skeptical towards their intentions. "So you boys deal in weapons and magical potions?"

"It's the best market to work in these days. Everyone fighting the Heartless needs our supplies."

"If you're going on an adventure, you'll find everything you need right here!" Dewey added. "So come on, Unca Donald! Buy something!"

Donald took a long, hard look into his nephews' cheery faces. They were innocent—_too_ innocent—especially for admitted arms dealers. How in the world did those three manage to muscle their way into the market, anyway? But never mind that; the more pressing matter was what devious little deed they planned in secret. Donald could see it in their eyes, ones that met the ceiling and avoided contact with his all throughout the exchange.

"So you want to sell me supplies, do you?" he said in an unconvinced tone. "Alright. Let's see what you've got."

Not a second later, Huey pushed a bottle of ether across the counter. "Here you go, Unca Donald! It's a premium blend guaranteed to add that little extra _flare_ to your spells!"

Eying the bottle with great suspicion, Donald carefully poked and prodded it with his staff to make sure it didn't explode. When nothing happened, he thought it safe to at least pick up for further examination. He held the bottle up to the light and scrutinized every last detail from the shine of the liquid within to the expiration date on the label. Everything seemed to be in order and Donald saw it fit to open, but a quick bit a laughter from Dewey made him all the more suspicious. Donald shot his glance back to his nephews, who now stood silent with their hands clapped together as if in angelic prayer.

"Something's going on here," Donald muttered with narrowed eyes. He took a look around the shop until he spotted Goofy browsing through the various shields on the wall. "Hey, Goofy! C'mere!"

"Did ya find something, Donald?" Goofy asked as he approached. "I'm thinkin' of gettin' a heavy shield myself."

Donald shoved the ether bottle into his buddy's hands. "Open this."

"The lid's stuck, eh? Don't worry; I'll fix it." Using the loose end of his shirt, Goofy wrapped the fabric around the lid and twisted the thing open with ease.

The jar's opening let out a loud pop, which sent Donald ducking for cover behind a stack of brooms. When he peeked from behind his protective cover and realized Goofy still stood unharmed and in one piece, he gave out a nervous little laugh and strolled back to collect his ether. "Eh-heh, thanks, Goofy."

"Always happy to help!" Goofy handed the jar back to Donald and then turned towards the little ducks to talk shield prices.

Meanwhile, Donald stared into the green concoction that ebbed within the ether jar. The color seemed legitimate, and the potent smell that twisted his nostrils into a pretzel gave proof to the superb quality of the mixture. Donald let his guard down enough to dip his finger into the liquid and taste it to gauge the consistency of ingredients. The second the stuff touched his tongue, however, he found himself hiccupping uncontrollably and burping up enough flames to rival a dragon's.

At the sight of their uncle breathing fire and hiccupping like a Mexican jumping bean, the three little ducks broke into hysterical laughter. They fell flat on their backs and rolled around laughing hard enough to cry.

Donald tried to yell at his nephews, but every time he opened his mouth, he could only belch up flames. He bounced all around the shop, knocking over goods and crashing into unpacked crates. All the while Goofy looked on helplessly while the little ducks pounded their fists along the ground in a fit of wild amusement.

Eventually, the effects of the potion wore off, leaving Donald's mouth swollen and parched. He ran around in circles rasping for water until Goofy grabbed a nearby pail and splashed water into his buddy's face. That seemed to cool Donald's mouth, but his temper blazed hot enough to break a thermometer. He exploded into a furious rave, screaming unintelligible quacks while hopping up and down and swinging his fists.

"Why you little…! I'll teach you!" Donald launched himself towards the counter, prompting his nephews to scurry away into the back room and lock the door. "Come back here and take your medicine!" shouted their uncle. He threw himself towards the door and pounded on it with all his might. When it finally dawned on him that he couldn't break down the door with his fists, he backed away with his own devious laugh and took aim with his mage's staff. But before he could cast a spell, Goofy grabbed him from behind.

"Mind your temper, Donald!" he scolded. "You've been a loose cannon ever since we got here—yellin' at and threatenin' everyone we've met! What would Daisy say if she saw you like this?"

"Stay out of this, Goofy!" Donald grunted as he tried to break free of Goofy's clutch. "I need to teach those boys a lesson!"

"They didn't mean any harm. It's been such a long time since they've seen their favorite uncle, that they just wanted to have some fun with ya," Goofy tried to reason.

Of course, Donald didn't buy that ridiculous thought for a second. "Those little devils! Let me at 'em, let me at 'em!" He tried even hard to wriggle free, but Goofy held him in an iron grip.

The door to the storage room soon creaked open, and a white flag of surrender waved out from the slight crack.

"See, Donald?" Goofy said while nodding at the flag. "They want to make peace—don'tcha, boys?"

The three little ducks retracted the flag and stuck out their heads. Tears streamed down their eyes as they sniffled out their apology. "We're sorry, Unca Donald," they all said.

"We just wanted to have some fun with you," Huey sniffled, parroting Goofy's earlier words.

"It's been so long since we had a chance to play with our favorite uncle," added Louie.

"We've missed you, Unca Donald!" Dewey threw in as the clincher. And it worked.

At the sight of his three, little nephews standing there all teary eyed and pathetic, Donald cooled down and felt guilty for his antics. "Oh, boys," he said, now tearing up himself, "I've missed you, too! Come here and give your Uncle Donald a hug!"

In a flash, the three little ducks sped out from behind the door and ran into their uncle's wide, open arms.

Goofy wiped a stray tear from his eye. "Gawrsh, I love happy reunions."

As they hugged their uncle, the three little ducks shot each other a victorious glance. When they pulled away, they jumped back behind the register and offered their uncle a ten percent discount on his next purchase as an apology.

"A ten percent discount?" Donald remarked. "Bless their little souls…" He purchased a couple of legitimate ethers—ones he tested on Goofy just to make sure they were the real deal—and an emergency Hi-potion to keep in his reserves.

Meanwhile, Goofy continued to barter for that heavy shield that had caught his eye, but in the end, he just didn't have the munny for it. Instead, he bought some camping equipment and a lightweight shield to use as his spare.

When the duo finished stocking up for the journey ahead, they said their goodbyes and promised to come visit again.

"Wait, Unca Donald!" Huey called out. "We still feel bad about that awful, _awful_ prank we pulled on you."

Louie nodded. "Yeah, that was mean and nasty of us!"

"We want to make it up to you," said Dewey.

"Aw, think nothing of it, boys," replied their uncle in earnest. Just knowing they cared about him was compensation enough.

"We insist!" Huey reached under the counter and fished out a small vile filled with a bright, pink serum. "Here, Unca Donald! Take this. It's on the house." He extended the test tube-like vile towards his uncle.

"What is it?" Donald asked.

"It's a super rare X-ether."

"X-ether?" Donald's eyes widened at the impressive name. He uncorked the vile and took a whiff of the stuff, reclining in disgust at the putrid smell. "Well it sure is potent…" he wheezed.

"Be careful with that!" Louie exclaimed. "It's the only one we have and it was really hard getting a hold of it."

Huey leaned forward and snatched the cork from his uncle's hand to replace in the vile. "One sip of that, and your magic energy's restored in full, you get a permanent boost in the power of your spells, and it won't deplete for twenty-four hours!"

"You don't say…" Donald hummed.

"Yup! It's a magician's holy elixir! So why not give it a sip, Unca Donald?"

Donald gave a shake of his head. "Uh-uh. This is best suited for emergencies." He slipped the vile in a special pocket within his hat and gave it an affectionate pat. "Thanks, boys. This'll come in handy when we take on the Order."

"Good luck, Unca Donald!" said the three in unison. "We're rooting for you!"

After giving a quick salute, Donald nodded towards Goofy and the two of them exited the shop. Seconds later, the three little ducks burst into another hysterical fit of laughter.

"_X-ether_! That's a good one!" Dewey howled. "What a sucker!"

"I just wish we could be there when he drinks it!" Huey cried. "Too bad he didn't take a swig here!"

Louie rolled right off the counter and tipped over a stack of brooms. "Best part is there's no cure!"

On and on the three ducks laughed while their dear uncle remained blissfully unaware of the danger tucked within his cap.

* * *

"Well would you look at that? Déjà vu," Axel remarked as he entered the First District side-by-side with Sora. "Only last time I wasn't walking to my own trial."

Sora sighed. "You're being overdramatic. Just relax and tell everyone exactly what we rehearsed. Jiminy and I will cover the rest."

"That's easy for you to say. When you talk, people hear words; when I talk, they hear the clanking of metal and watch for signs of a concealed weapon."

"Not this time," Sora assured him. "You'll be heard, Axel, and everything's going to be okay."

"Where do you stash all that confidence—in those big shoes? Can I have a pair?"

"You'll be _fine_. Now let's find Leon and the others." Sora took the lead and headed towards the Accessory Shop. Every so often, he paused to glance back and goad Axel to pick up the pace. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner it's behind you," he encouraged. But Axel only offered a begrudging grunt in reply.

When Sora reached the door to the shop, he did little more than reach for the doorknob when he heard his name. He turned around to see Yuffie waving from the café's balcony.

"Good to see you're awake, sleepyhead!" she called. "Come on over and join the celebration!" The agile ninja strung her last batch of balloons to balcony's railing and then jumped down to greet the new arrivals. "You actually did it! You stopped the cannon!" She grabbed hold of Sora's hands and swung him around in a merry little dance while singing "You did it!" over and over again.

"Whoa, hey…I'm getting kind of dizzy," Sora slurred. When Yuffie finally let go, she sent the Keybearer spinning into a chair.

"Have a seat! Eat some cake!" Yuffie grabbed the unfinished piece of chocolate cake from a table over and slid it in front of Sora. "Anything you want, you've got! Party's on, Sora! Whoo!"

"Um, thanks, Yuffie. But now's not the time for cake."

"You're right; it's time for lobster! Where's Leon with that chef? They've been chatting up a storm in the kitchen for a while now."

"Have you seen Donald and Goofy?"

Yuffie rubbed her chin in thought. "Those guys? Yeah, I've seen 'em. They went to go install a new gummi and drop some supplies off in their ship. They should be back any minute now."

"Great, _more_ waiting," Axel groaned as he took the seat opposite Sora. "Does this night drag on, or what?"

"It's _Traverse Town_," Yuffie drawled, as if that explained everything.

"I didn't mean it in a literal sense."

"I'm sure you didn't mean a lot of things."

"Eh?" Axel narrowed his eyes. "What are you implying?"

"Nothing, something, and everything." Before Axel could question her further, Yuffie backed out of the café until she could see the balcony. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a banner to string!" In a single bound, the ninja jumped onto the second floor's railings and started fiddling around with a giant "_Victory!_" banner.

"I have a sneaking suspicion the next time I come to this town, they'll have metal detectors and DNA scanners installed…"

"Don't let it get to you, Axel," Jiminy whispered into the man's ear. "One good chat around the table's all we need and you'll be singing 'round the campfire with these guys."

"I don't _do_ singing," Axel grumbled, earning Sora's attention.

"Hmm? Did you say something, Axel?" he asked.

Axel shook his head and opened his mouth to answer with a short quip, but another voice interrupted him.

"Sora, you're here!"

Everyone looked towards the street to where Aerith approached carrying a large box of firecrackers.

"Let me help with those," Sora offered. He pushed from his seat and helped Aerith set down the box inside the café.

"Everyone was worried about you," said Aerith. "We heard what happened."

"Whatever you heard, it's not the whole truth. Axel's not a bad guy."

"Who said he was?" Cid called from behind them. He too was carrying a large box of firecrackers and set them down next to Aerith's. "Good work, kiddo. You did the one thing I could never do: take on one of my babies and _win_."

"One of your—" Sora's eyes went wide. "You mean _you_ created the Noventa Cannon?"

Cid flicked his nose and let out a dry laugh. "I helped build it, yeah. But that damn witch Maleficent up and hijacked it the second we finished the thing! Never knew what became of it 'til today. To think she gave it to a _pirate_ of all people! Don't that beat all?"

"So that's what happened," Sora uttered. "By why did you need to build such a monstrous weapon?"

"To get our home back," Cid stated in a resolute tone that ended the conversation. He plopped into the seat between Axel and Sora, pulling the cake towards himself only to get a slap on the wrist from Aerith. "Oh, come on! It's already half gone!"

"You'll spoil your appetite," she scolded and took the plate away from him.

"Tch, since when'd _you_ become the parent around here?"

"The chef will have dinner out at any moment now."

"Darlin', at this time of night, I'd say it's more of a midnight feast."

The exchange between Cid and Aerith prompted Axel to look at his wristwatch. "That reminds me," he said while fingering the watch. "I suppose you'll want this back." He unfastened the it and dangled it in front of Cid.

"Heh, yeah. Would've gone nuts tomorrow without this baby," Cid remarked as he took the watch and wrapped it around his own wrist. "Rebuilding the fleet's gonna have me on a tight schedule for the next few weeks."

"It's one heck of a watch. Unique tune, too."

"You like it?"

Axel searched for the right word to describe his feelings. "It's…_haunting_. You don't hear too many wristwatches playing melodies like that."

Cid let out a chuckle. "You sure don't. I built this little guy as a memento of home. Back in the old days, we used to have a _huge_ clock tower in the center square. No matter where you were in the world, you could hear its chimes signaling the hour—and everyday at noon, it'd play the same song you heard." He brushed a fond cloth across the face of the watch, wiping away a smudge. "Kids used to play in the gardens surrounding the tower—their laughter echoing out almost as loud as the clock. But these days, all you'll find are wyverns screeching around the nests they've made in the rubble."

When Cid polished his watch to a fine, new shine, he pocketed his cloth and got to his feet. "Well, back to work! We've got a full-fledge celebration to get underway. It's not everyday we up and find a legendary hero in our backyard!" Cid hauled his box of fireworks off into the alleyways behind the café to set them up with Aerith.

Everything Cid had said struck a cord within Sora, further driving home the point that everyone depended on him. No matter what, he couldn't let them down. He strengthened his vow to wield the Keyblade to the best of his abilities, and to find a way off world with Donald, Goofy, and Axel.

"I wonder what's taking them so long," Sora wondered after much time passed and Donald and Goofy were still nowhere in sight.

Axel didn't much notice or seem troubled anymore. Instead, other thoughts occupied his mind. He would have remained lost in thought if not for Leon finally emerging from the kitchen.

"…Thanks, Tony," he called and gave a small wave before the door closed. Not even taking two steps into the place, Leon stopped when his eyes fell on Sora's table. "You're here."

Sora nodded. "Hi, Leon."

At first, Leon didn't reply; he continued to study the two sitting at the table. When he spoke again, he signaled to Axel, stirring the man from his thoughts. "I want to speak to you alone," he instructed, and then led the way to a secluded area behind the bank.

Sora gave his friend a comforting pat on the shoulder, but it did little to ease Axel's anxiety. "I'd rather fight against that giant dino again than run around explaining myself," he thought as he dragged his feet towards the alley.

Leaning against the side of the building, Leon fixed his piercing gaze on Axel. With a stern face, he crossed his arms in wait for Axel to finish his approach and stand opposite him. Like when they first met, the two engaged in a staring contest to size up the other. Yet despite Leon's heavy gaze, Axel refused to budge. He stood firm, ready to tackle anything thrown at him. When Leon realized this, he spoke.

"In times of crisis, the world goes to hell in a hand basket," he stated. "Anything and everything goes, because no matter how much you want it, order doesn't exist. You can't plan for chaos. When the hammer comes down and your world breaks into pieces, you don't have the luxury of time to fit them all back neatly together. You pick up what you can and fight against the clock—_fight to stay alive_."

Axel narrowed his eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that what you've done here tonight took a lot of skill and courage."

"You're _praising_ me?" Axel couldn't believe his ears. Despite the heavily biased reports he no doubt stomached from Donald and Zack, Leon looked Axel straight in the eye and told him he demonstrated skill and courage for his feats.

"I know firsthand the pressures of making quick decisions. The truth is, if you hadn't been here, this world wouldn't have survived. The many denizens of Traverse Town owe you their lives."

"Then you don't hold a grudge against me for injuring Sora?"

Leon shook his head. "It was a tough call, but one you had to make. The important thing is you didn't deal him critical, irreversible damage."

Axel couldn't help but laugh, to which Leon raised an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?"

"Here I thought you'd all be out with pitchforks and torches, and you're sitting here saying something _sensible_! I'll never hear stuff like this out of that duck."

"As talented and powerful as he is, Donald has yet to experience war firsthand," Leon noted. "When he journeys with Sora, however, that'll change. He'll learn the value of sacrifice the hard way, as we all have."

Axel hummed in accordance. "Yeah, he and the knight are in for one hell of a ride."

"Which raises a question." Leon shifted his weight. "What are your plans?"

"You mean regarding Sora?"

"Let's be frank, Axel; it's no coincidence you and Sora wound up here at the same time. My name doesn't need to be Cid to figure out you came here looking for him. I want to know how you found him and what you intend to do now."

Although Zack had posed similar questions, Axel found a clear difference between the two scenarios. Despite the man's rigid exterior, Axel knew he could trust Leon—that he wouldn't deceive him. The leader of the Resistance didn't disguise his intentions in ambiguity. Without a doubt, he wanted to keep Sora safe and would stand up to defend him wherever he saw a potential threat.

Yet, despite Leon's noble intentions, Axel couldn't afford to tell him the whole truth even if he wanted to. So he devised a quick white lie that wasn't altogether far from the truth.

"Hey, this is Traverse Town, isn't it? This is the place where everyone comes when they lose their world. I figured if I came here and waited long enough, the Keyblade master was bound to pop up eventually."

"Makes sense," Leon hummed. "How did you know about Destiny Islands?"

Axel almost flinched at that question. He had to think fast. "Hey, you Resistance guys aren't the only ones free floating around the universe. I heard from a drunken pirate who heard from a moogle who heard from a seagull that a fleet of ships was ordered to search the islands for something important. It was a long shot, but I hadn't gotten hold of a lead in too long a time to pass it up."

"Desperate measures?"

"When it comes to the legendary Keyblade, you have to take what you can get."

"True," Leon agreed. "And why were you found naked and delirious in the middle of New Port City's major highway?"

"Drunken pirate. Need I say more?"

Leon closed his eyes and took a moment to process the new influx of information. After a few minutes, he again asked Axel why he sought out the Keybearer. "I don't know too many people outside our Resistance who know of the Keyblade, let alone individuals who would risk everything to find its wielder. What are your intentions?"

"Well, that's…difficult to say," Axel replied.

"Oh? Why is that?"

Even if he could trust him, the last thing Axel wanted to do was admit his secret to Leon of all people. But he couldn't lie his way out of this one—not with Jiminy listening.

"Wait, that's it!" Axel tapped his shoulder and signaled for Jiminy.

"What's it?" Leon questioned.

"I'll take it from here!" said Jiminy as he jumped into Axel's open palm. "Sorry for the delay, fellas. I just had to chronicle what you've been discussing in my journal."

Leon rubbed his chin. "What's this all about, Jiminy? He can't answer for himself?"

"I'm afraid Axel is the victim of a terrible crime committed by the Heartless," explained the cricket. "He has confided in both Sora and myself the terrible atrocities he's suffered under the condition that he would never have to repeat himself again. That being said, you have my assurance that his intentions are both noble and true."

"Is that so?" Leon dragged his eyes up from the cricket to meet Axel's. "Atrocities too terrible to repeat, huh? So you want to join Sora for revenge?"

Axel shook his head. "No. I want to help Sora so that my heart can one day heal."

"Has Sora agreed to your terms?"

"Yeah. He'll let me travel with him."

"I see. Alright, then." Leon took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled before pushing himself off the building. "On behalf the Resistance and everyone in Traverse Town, thank you for your help in averting the crisis. This town welcomes you." With his piece said, Leon began to walk out of the alley leaving Axel confused.

"Hey, wait a second! That's all you have to say?"

Leon stopped. "What more do you want me to say?"

"You don't care that I want to go with Sora?"

"I'm not the one with the Keyblade. Who Sora wants to travel with is none of my business."

"But there's no way that duck is going to let me hitch a ride with them!"

"Not my problem." Leon continued walking until he disappeared around the corner.

Axel stared after him for a while before shrugging his shoulders with a smirk and following suit. "That guy's a real piece of work."

"But he has a point, you know," said Jiminy. "He can't force Donald and Goofy to take you with them."

"_He_ can't, but _you_ can."

Jiminy smiled and nodded. "Right—wait, no!" He jumped up and shook his head in correction. "We're not forcing anyone to do anything! All we have to do is sit down and explain things to Donald and Goofy—get them to see your side of the story."

"The only thing that duck is interesting in seeing is me burning at the stake."

"Don't be so quick to judge! Donald's not a bad fella; he just has a temper, is all."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because trying to sit down and calmly reason with a hotheaded duck is an easy task."

"I didn't say it would be easy, but you can't resign yourself to defeat before you've even tried talking to him. Now keep your chin up and breathe easy. You're not going in alone, after all."

"Yeah, yeah."

When Axel returned to the café, he was greeted by the restaurant's revolutionized appearance. Yuffie and the others had set up dozens upon dozens of wide tables all lined with plates, glasses and silverware that extended into the central plaza. Crowds of people gathered around the café for a buffet-style feast to celebrate the arrival of the Keyblade master and the town's survival against the Noventa Cannon. Loud chatter and cheer filled the air, though the liveliest table was the centermost one where Sora sat as the guest of honor. He broke bread with the locals and enjoyed his lobster while listening to everyone's various stories. Some told tales of good humor, while others detailed in full the nightmarish day they lost their homes. But regardless of the horrors they lived through in their pasts, no one remained depressed for long. The Keyblade master had arrived, and soon, he would set everything to right.

Axel muscled his way through the crowd until he reached his target. But to his shock, Donald and Goofy sat sandwiching the Keyblade master between them. They ate, drank, and laughed shoulder-to-shoulder with Sora, while Axel was pushed around by gelatinous men rushing to the food table for their fifth and sixth helpings.

When Sora finally noticed him, he signaled Axel over and tried to make room for him at the table. But no one was willing to give up their prized seat at the Keybearer's cramped table, so Axel resorted to standing behind Sora to talk to him.

"I'm sorry about this, Axel," said Sora. "I'd move, but I have a feeling everyone would just follow me."

"That's alright, kid. We can talk after the crowd leaves."

"Looks like it, yeah. Why don't you grab some food in the meantime? It's really good."

"I'm strapped for cash."

"No worries there! Cid paid for everyone who helped fight Hook."

"He did?"

Sora nodded. "That's what Aerith told me."

"Huh, I never figured Grandpa Cookie Crumbs as the charitable sort," Axel remarked. "Oh well, I guess I'll see you later then, huh?"

"Yup!"

Axel heard Donald scoff, and that annoyed him like nothing else. "You got something to say, duck?"

"Nothing a warlock's disciple would want to hear," Donald quacked, spitting tiny bits of lobster at Axel as he spoke.

"That's it, duck!" Axel growled. "You're on my last nerve!"

"Oh yeah? Put 'em up!" Donald rolled up his sleeves and made to push away from the table, but Sora stopped him.

"You promised me you wouldn't do this, Donald!" said the Keybearer. "If you go back on your word, I might not travel with you."

"Aw phooey!" Donald scowled and crossed his arms. Not wanting to jeopardize Sora's cooperation, he resorted to glowering at Axel rather than pummeling him to a pulp.

"Axel, if you want Donald to mind his temper, you have to keep yours in check first," Jiminy whispered. "Just walk away for now and we can talk things through later when the tension's down and we're all alone."

"Hmph, yeah, alright." Axel turned to leave. "Until later," he said before disappearing back into the crowd. After getting some food, he wound up sitting between the kleptomaniac moogle and his pathological gambling brother.

"Pick a card, any card," said the gambler as he held a hand full of cards up to Axel's face. "I bet you 500 munny I can guess your card."

"They're marked," Axel sighed. In the past, Luxord pulled the same trick and raked in the big bucks before everyone figured out his secret.

"No they're not!" contended the kleptomaniac. "He never gets it right, kupo. See? I'll pick a card."

Axel massaged his forehead at the sight. "Oh geez, now I've seen everything! Moogles are trying to hustle me despite the fact that I'm broke."

"You mean you don't have any munny?" said the kleptomaniac as he retracted his hand from Axel's back pocket.

"Who cares about munny?" exclaimed his brother. "He can bet his clothes in a rousing game of poker!" The moogle shuffled his cards back into a deck and dealt Axel into the game.

"Yeah, I was right," Axel grumbled. "This night's dragging on forever…" He slid face-first into his food and opted to play dead until the moogles either flew away or lost interest. Neither happened, and he was eventually forced to set the moogle's deck of cards on fire.

"I bet you 3000 munny I can put the fire out faster than you," waged the gambler.

Axel smirked. "Deal." With a snap of his fingers, the flames vanished and Axel was 3000 munny richer.

Hours later, the party finally drew to a close. Behind the scenes, Cid and the others finished the last preparations to set off the fireworks. They set up rows of firecrackers and fireworks in the empty lot just on the other side of the back alley that bordered between the two districts.

"Heh, I never thought I'd have a use for these things," said Cid with a flick of his nose. "Truth be told, I was saving them to convert into emergency flares."

"Well it's a good thing you didn't do that," Yuffie replied. "You can't have a celebration without these puppies!"

"True that! Now let's make some noise!" Cid gave the thumbs up to Aerith at the switchboard and the first round of fireworks shot up into the sky. Dozens of multi-colored explosions filled the nighttime sky visible all over the world. Those not attending the feast in the First gazed out from their windows to watch the spectacle heralding the arrival of their hero. The lights and explosion weren't just for show; they symbolized the first offensive shots fired by the Resistance against their oppressors.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

_Do it._

Over and over it whispered to him, driving him mad. The incessant yammering and explosions that filled the night air only worsened his mania. From his secluded table next to the kitchen, Axel watched with twitching eyes as the mob around Sora celebrated in merriment. While sitting all alone and isolated even from the moogles who flew off to prey on wealthier marks, Axel could do little else but glue his sights on the squealing swine that stampeded from all corners of the world to bask in the radiance of the Keyblade. When the blade appeared in a flash of light brighter than any firework, the herd flocked to their legend and sang their pathetic songs of praise as if _Sora_ was the _only one _responsible for booting the pirates offworld.

_Start a fire. Incinerate them all. Do it._

Everyone took turns congratulating the big hero; everyone got their fair chance to sit and chat with their celebrity. Dogs, ducks, moogles, fat guys, skinny guys, gaudy women, snot-nosed kids! Whether it was a puppy curled up in his lap, a proud hand on his shoulder, a dainty kiss to his cheek, or a moogle tangled in his hair, Sora was showered with the affection and endless gratitude of the whole town.

"…el…"

But what did Axel get? A rickety, slanted table next to the kitchen where the door wasn't thick enough to shield him from an earful of orders shouted in a heavy Italian accent. The front-row view to the spectacle of morons guffawing and toasting drinks ate his nerves raw. He cringed at every "ohh," grinded his teeth at every "ahh," and scraped his fingernails along the wooden table at every bout of raucous laughter. Those peons! Just what did they find so funny? The only thing funny was the fact that they were idolizing a little kid who just stood around getting burned and stabbed while _Axel_ strategized an actual plan and hoodwinked the moron pirates into fleeing!

_Why should you be the unknown—the outcast? You're the real hero. Scorch the fools who dare ignore you._

A round of green fireworks exploded in the sky. They flashed brightly, shading everything in their particular hue: a pale, sickly green that filled Axel's field of vision. He twisted his tongue as if he could taste the bitterness of the repulsive color.

_Do it._

"…xel…"

When the head chef shouted in his broken English "that's a'not the way you ice a'the cake!" for the umpteenth time, Axel just about lost it. He fisted the napkin in his lap until smoke puffed out from between the cracks in his fingers.

_Do it!_

Those scrawny whelps! He could hear them asking for autographs, and boasting about how they would sleep well that night all because of Sora's heroics! And then out came the cake—a chocolatey, two-tiered work of art that Chef Tony crafted on such short notice. As if it were the kid's birthday, Tony slipped the knife into Sora's hand and everyone applauded as he cut the first slice.

"Axel…"

A cake for the Keywielder? _A cake_? Didn't the pathetic layabouts of Traverse Town have anything better to do with their miserable, hopeless lives than party all night and shove cake down their throats? Looking at those idiots all drunk on happiness you'd forget they all barely escaped dying worlds by the skin of their teeth. Their joy fueled Axel's anger. Burning rage boiled within him, growing hotter and hotter towards the inevitable explosion.

_DO IT!_

"AXEL!"

Jiminy's voice pierced Axel's balloon of fury, deflating all his hot air. Finally shifting his gaze away from the crowd, Axel rolled his eyes down towards the table where the cricket bounced up and down in a panic.

"Didn't you hear me? Your lap is on fire!"

"My what…?" Axel relaxed his grip around the ashes that once composed his dinner napkin. With an effortless wave of his hand, the flames disappeared and he let his arm fall limp at his side. He then reclined further back into his chair without so much another word. While staring at the ceiling, Axel did little else but mimic a statue.

Worried by the somber gestures, Jiminy bounced up to Axel's shoulder for a pep talk. "What's gotten into you, Axel? You've isolated yourself all night, and now you've gone and set yourself on fire!"

"Buzz off." If he still possessed any energy or will, Axel would have flicked the noisy cricket clean off his shoulder. But a sudden bout of lethargy enfeebled his irritability and he resigned himself to sitting still as the cricket chirped on with his worries and concerns. He was caught in a state between the conscious and subconscious, the latter of which housed the dictatorial voice that volleyed for dominance over his heart. Yet despite this, his conscious failed to pinpoint the exact cause for his newfound weariness.

The voice of the tempter was not unlike a dream. When one wakes in the morning, the dreams of the night disappear and are often forgotten. Like trying to make sense the remnants of a faded dream, Axel toiled away in his mind in an effort to remember what had happened prior to Jiminy's prying call. But with the absence of anger, he failed to return to his previous state of mind, and his ears once more fell deaf to the urgings of the tempter.

"And there you go again, ignoring me!" Jiminy threw his hands up in the air in frustration. The entire time he spent talking, Axel didn't so much as flinch. "What's it going to take to get an answer out of you—the world exploding?" When Axel yet again failed to answer, Jiminy took drastic steps and jumped onto the man's nose, forcing his eyes down towards the meddlesome obstacle within their view. "Talk to me, Axel! I can't help if you don't let me. Or do you _want_ the darkness to win?"

"I'm not in the mood for an existential discussion right now," Axel grumbled, tilting his head down away from the ceiling.

"It doesn't have to be that complex an answer. Just tell me how you feel."

Axel couldn't help but laugh. No one had ever asked him such a question. "You know, cricket, considering who and what I am, that's a complex topic all in itself."

"Only if you think too much."

"I can't help it; there's a lot to think about."

Jiminy rubbed his chin and hummed. "So you're all alone over here because you want some space to think? There are better times and places for that, you know."

"When you're hit by a train, you don't stop and wonder what the tracks are doing under your feet. You get hit and that's the end of it."

"And what's the nature of your train of thought?" Axel's beating around the bush didn't discourage Jiminy in the least. He would continue to play for a straight answer all night.

"Persistent little critter, aren't you?" Axel grunted with a frown.

"Axel, I'm your conscience. It's my _job_ to be persistent. Otherwise you're apt to give into temptation." Jiminy propped his umbrella up against the bridge of Axel's nose and used it as a makeshift hanger for his hat. While loosening his tie, he then sat down and made himself comfortable. "I've got all the time in the world. Whenever you feel ready to share, go on and do so."

"Can't you appreciate the fact that I'm beat tired? My day hasn't exactly been a walk in the park, you know."

"And I wouldn't dare deny that," Jiminy replied. He crossed his legs and leaned in with a stern expression. "However, I can tell something's weighing heavily on your mind; you wouldn't have involuntarily set yourself aflame otherwise. Now you'd best come clean with it, or else you could find yourself in another heap of trouble, mister, and you don't want that. Your heart won't ever grow if it's too busy fending off those bottle-up woes of yours."

Axel wanted to smack his hand hard against his nose and squash the pesky, little insect. The stupid little bug in the hat should mind his own business! But at the same time, Axel knew a valid point when he heard one. With a grudging sigh, he caved in and let the cricket have his way. "Alright, alright. I'll spill my guts. Just get off my nose first. I'm getting cross-eyed looking at you."

"Consider it a done deal," Jiminy said while getting to his feet. He collected his belongings and hopped back onto the table. "Now then, what seems to be the trouble?"

Allowing himself some time to collect his thoughts before answering, Axel shifted his gaze away from Jiminy. But every other place he dared to look showed wall-to-wall crowds of people partying the night away. The sight rekindled his anger, and with it, the phantom voice.

_Do it_.

Throughout all the celebration's reverberations, Axel's ears managed to single out one, distinct sound. He honed in on the bit of laughter that involuntarily sent his teeth into a grinding frenzy. That laughter—that disturbing, incessant noise that resembled a drowning, amateur singer choking on a squeaky dog's toy—enraged him like nothing else.

_DO IT!_

"AXEL! You've done it again!"

"Huh…?"

"Put out that fire!"

Once again pulled from his hypnotic trance, Axel let his eyes fall to his half-eaten dinner where the remnants of his lobster made for fine kindling. With another wave of the hand, the fire disappeared, leaving the meal a little too well done.

"That's that!" Jiminy tapped the top of his hat and rolled up his sleeves. Now he meant business. "If you're not going to come clean, then I'll just have to loosen your lips a bit the old fashioned way!"

"Oh, this is rich," Axel snickered. "What are you going to do, beat me up?"

Jiminy shook his head. "No; I'm going to psychoanalyze you."

"I'd like to see you try!" That cricket had a lot of nerve to suggest he could get inside Axel's head.

"Unlike you, I've actually been alert and attentive this evening. You've isolated yourself in a spot removed from the all the hubbub, but at the same time, haven't retreated to a more secluded area. You stayed close by and have kept your eyes glued to the same party you refuse to join."

"Cut it out, cricket," Axel warned. He didn't need some little bug picking apart his every decision. But Jiminy kept on talking.

"You've been staring out there for a good, solid hour. And in all that time while others were enjoying themselves, you've achieved nothing more than a lapful of ashes!"

Axel clenched his fists. "I'm not in the mood for this, cricket."

"It doesn't take much to reason that you're entranced by the happenings around you—entranced and frustrated, if not angered. But the question is _why_? What in particular is upsetting to you, and why do you feel compelled to isolate yourself?"

It not only bothered Axel that the cricket could throw together a decent argument, but the implications lying between the lines of Jiminy's questioning left Axel's head aching. He didn't know the answer, and that frightened him because it stood to reason that he didn't have a full grasp on his own self.

"I…I honestly don't know," he uttered, shaken by his own admission.

"How do you mean?" Jiminy asked in a softer voice. "You must have a reason for—"

"I said I don't know!" Axel snapped, now getting angry. He didn't want to think about it anymore, because the more he did, the more he realized the darkness held a stronger grasp on him than he previously believed.

"Easy now, Axel. We can get to the bottom of this together. But first you have to help me help you."

All of Jiminy's words went in one ear and out the other, drowned out by that ear-piercing laughter that made Axel want to incinerate his own eardrums. Without a moment's hesitation, his sights flicked away from the cricket and back onto the crowd where he scanned feverishly for the source of all his maddening fury. When a man bent down to pet a trio of Dalmatian puppies playing at his feet, Axel saw _him_—the Devil's own duck.

With his head thrown back and his bill wide open, Donald laughed up a storm at some kind of joke or prank or whatever. The context didn't matter. Every little loudmouthed quack that came out of that duck pushed Axel closer and closer off the edge of madness. But his laughter? His _laughter_—his _merriment_—sent Axel spiraling straight into the clutches of temptation. To see a walking sack of poultry as pompous and pathetic as Donald enjoying himself was more than he could stomach.

_That should be _your_ victory party, _your_ tears of mirth, and _your_ laughter echoing into the night sky. Do it! Make them pay! DO IT!_

Axel didn't realize that he was conjuring a fireball into the palm of his outstretched hand until a deafening whistle shook him from zombie-like state. Not taking the time to will away the fire, he slapped the enflamed hand over his aching ear and cringed. "What the _heck_ was that?" he cried. The incomplete ball of flames was absorbed into his skin and eased away the pain. Not long after, Jiminy came stumbling out of Axel's smoking ear coughing up a storm.

"Are you trying to do me in?" Jiminy hacked. After a few seconds of wheezing and clearing his lungs, he regained his composure and gave Axel a stern enough look to stun the man's tongue. "Not only did you ignore my whole lecture on the importance of consulting with your conscience, but you tried to launch an attack into the crowd and then almost set me on fire!"

Axel contorted his ashamed face as he stared bewildered at his open palm. He flexed his fingers open and closed in an attempt to recall why he would want to summon a spell. But no matter how intense his concentration, bearing holes into his hand yielded no results. He had blacked out—that was the only explanation.

"What were you thinking, Axel?" Jiminy demanded. Silence met his question, and it peeved him all the more. "So that's how you want to play it, huh? Try to smoke out your conscience and then do as you please? And you want to journey with Sora! At the rate you're going, a stab the chest will be the least of his worries!"

That last bit snagged Axel's attention. "It's not me; I'm not doing this!" The way he said it, Jiminy could hear a phantom "you have to believe me" attached at the end as a desperate plea. "It's not…me…" Axel repeated, this time slower and in a fainter tone. The weariness from earlier resurfaced in full force, and he soon hunched over in his seat all droopy-eyed and pale.

With a sigh, Jiminy shook his head and softened up a bit. "There, there," he said with a comforting pat to Axel's neck. "Don't worry yourself none. I'll help you block out the darkness."

"How can I block it out when I can't tell if it's pulling me in?"

"You'll just have to train yourself to pick up on it."

"Train myself, huh?"

Jiminy nodded. "Sure. But before we get into any serious discussion, what's say we go somewhere quieter? Some peace'll do you good."

With a wordless nod, Axel forced his heavy body off the chair and dragged himself towards the back alley. He avoided the fireworks zone, slipping instead past some narrow gaps between buildings until he stumbled into the Second District and collapsed on the nearest bench.

"What's the matter?" asked Jiminy.

"Feel weak," Axel half slurred. He lay on the bench with his head craned up against the hand rest. The section of his body nearest the edge drooped off onto the ground with his hand idly brushing against the pavement while his other arm was slung across his forehead. He stared up at the starry sky through half lidded eyes that struggled to stay alert.

"What brought this on? You were fine not more than ten minutes ago!"

Axel didn't reply, both because he didn't know the answer and because it required too much energy to open his mouth again.

Although he wanted to press him for an explanation, Jiminy resigned himself to sit on Axel's shoulder in silence and wait. Sometime between pondering the source of his sudden weakness and watching the stars twinkle, Axel fell asleep.

* * *

Once again Axel found himself in a dark place void of all life and light save for himself and the fiery aura that encased his body. But the darkness didn't bother him, nor did the loneliness. He was a different Axel, a guilt-ridden Axel—one who was both aware of the tempter's voice and focused on silencing it. He didn't remain alone for long, however. Before he could so much as blink, the sound of clanking armor echoed in the distance. Axel's brilliant, red-orange flames reflected off the newcomer's armored torso as he drew closer with his heavy footsteps.

"No! Not this again!" Axel shouted as he recoiled from the sight. "You stay the heck away from me!"

"I am the Messenger," the newcomer announced in his deep, ominous voice. "I have come bearing a message."

"I said _stay away_!" Axel shouted as he summoned a barrage of fireballs to strike against the armored behemoth. But his offensive strikes dissipated upon impact and did nothing to hinder the Messenger's approach.

"This is a message," he said as he came to a halt, "from your _future_." The Messenger extended his arm and index finger, pointing at the infinite expanse of black behind Axel.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Axel didn't dare look behind him. Instead, he kept his angered eyes fixed on the man who wrought nothing but destruction with his every message. "Whenever you come for me, the voices become louder—_stronger_. They do terrible things to me, forcing me to attack people I'd never in my right mind attack! And after I leave here, I won't even remember that it's because of you; I won't remember this hellish nightmare until you summon me here again!"

The Messenger listened to all of Axel's grievances while standing as stiff as a statue and continuing to point in the direction of his supposed message. The helmet on his head masked his face and there was no way to gauge his reaction to the accusations until he finally replied with: "Don't blame the messenger."

"Don't blame the—_why you_!" Axel's lip and nostril flared up into a snarl. "That's all you can say, huh? I guess I'll just have to beat an explanation out of you!" Holding his hands loose, Axel channeled forth the flames for his chakrams. But the weapons never materialized. He tried again and again to call them forth to no avail. "What did you do to me?"

"I have come bearing a message," the Messenger repeated. "This is a message from your future."

"Where are my chakrams?"

"I am the Messenger."

"To Hades with your name! What did you do to me?"

"_Look at your message, Axel_!" thundered the Messenger. His voice boomed like a god's shouting his command all across the expanse of his universe, and it unnerved Axel enough to comply. With wide, cautious eyes, he turned his shaking head in the direction of the Messenger's finger and reeled at the sight. A tall, skinny figure cloaked in an Organization coat stood tall. Axel could feel the figure's eyes on him, watching as his red flames spiked in defense from an eminent threat.

"You won't fool me again," Axel stated right away, intent on averting a similar crisis that led to Sora's dire injuries. "No matter what you say, you're no friend of mine!" But to his surprise, the figure didn't even contest the claim. He just stood there motionless, watching and waiting.

An explosion went off behind the figure, and Axel threw his arms up to shield himself from the blast. He forced all his weight into his legs as he struggled to maintain balance while the magnitude of the explosion blew past him. Green flames erupted from the hooded figure and the all-too familiar cackle of Maleficent filled the air. Axel peeked through his defensive stance and caught sight of the witch's silhouette standing beside the hooded figure as more green flames encompassed them.

"You find this amusing, you old hag?" Axel grunted. The witch continued to cackle, louder this time and with more fervor. "Let's see you laugh when you're roasting on the barbie!" Channeling his protective fiery aura into his upper body, Axel blasted a high-powered flamethrower from out of his chest that negated the momentum of Maleficent's explosions. But instead of destroying the witch's silhouetted and cloaked puppet, the blast of fire streaked clear of its intended targets when countered by a blast of green flames of equal magnitude.

Axel didn't have much time to recover when a follow-up assault whizzed past him. He leaped to the side and somersaulted away from the onslaught until he saw an opening for a counter. But his previous attack drained his aura, and he found out too late that he couldn't summon forth enough energy to launch even one fireball. The best he could do was defend himself from the next wave. That, too, had its limits. When the green flames flew at him, his fire could only deflect so many blasts before he was knocked to the ground.

The cloaked figure took a step forward and conjured two gigantic balls of swirling green flames in either hand. With a mighty jerk forward, he launched the flaming orbs of destruction at his battered target. The force of impact set off a series of seismic explosions, leaving a smoldering field of crackling flames where Axel's body once lay.

Maleficent laughed unrestrained, and her lackey turned to rejoin her side. But their victory was short-lived. Red flames purged a small circular area free as Axel struggled to his feet. His face was covered in black smudges and parts of his clothes were singed by the green flames, but he managed to stand, even if he hunched a little.

"You deluded, old hag! It'll take a lot more to keep _me_ down!"

"Is that so?" said the witch with a twisted curl of her lip. "My new pet is _more_ than enough to destroy you."

"He couldn't light his way out of an oil-soaked paper bag!"

"Wanna bet?"

Axel didn't notice it—it happened too fast for him to see it—but the cloaked figure appeared behind him, laughing with a sick, snake-like hiss right in his ear before smacking Axel upside the head with a flaming fist. Even after Axel banged his head along the ground, the cloaked figure didn't give him time to recover. He lunged on top of Axel, grabbing a tuft of his hair and slamming his head repeatedly into the ground. The bright, red flames flickered with every progressive blow, and soon paled into a weak yellow-orange.

"You're pathetic, Axel!" hissed the cloaked figure. "All that power at your fingertips, but you're too spineless to let it out!" He kicked Axel hard in the abdomen and let go of his hair, leaving him to writhe in pain. "Weakling."

Axel couldn't make any sense of the cloaked figure's insults. "Wh-what are you talking about…?" he sputtered.

It only took two words to make him understand.

"_Do it_."

Gritting his teeth, Axel bit back the pain surging from his torso as he spun on his back and kicked the cloak figure. But his legs were caught and crushed in the man's iron grip. Tears streamed down Axel's cheeks and burst into steam as he cried out in agony. All the while, the hooded man took pleasure in every desperate howl.

The cloaked figure let Axel's legs slip from his grip. "Give in, Axel." He grabbed Axel by the collar and hauled him upright, leaning in close to his face. "Give in and _do it_. That's the only way you'll ever be strong enough!"

What Axel saw hidden underneath the hood's shadow mortified him enough to scream his throat raw. He knew he wasn't strong enough to win the fight and abandoned all tactical techniques and maneuvers as his body flailed and squirmed in an effort to break free of the enemy's clutches. All the while, the cloaked figure laughed and thought it amusing to see his prey scramble away on all fours. He let go of Axel and watched as he fumbled to get to his feet. But his legs were in no shape to support him after sustaining such heavy damage, and Axel could do little more than crawl away as fast as he could. He didn't get very far before a boot stopped him with a sharp kick to the face.

"You make me sick," hissed the cloaked figure.

"Y-you're not…y-you can't be…" Axel had landed on his back, and he tried to crawl away but lacked the energy to do so. His flaming aura was reduced to a faint, blue outline, and with pure fright running through him, he could do little more than stutter and shiver.

The cloaked figure took his time approaching, relishing in Axel's fright. "All you have to do is agree to die," he said as he took several steps closer. "Once _you're_ out of the picture, _I_ will be free."

"N-no! Y-you can't! I won't let you!"

"I can and you will once you _die_." The cloaked figure stopped before Axel and kneeled close to his face. He laughed as Axel recoiled and shut his eyes. "Face the truth and bask in my glory!" With one hand, he grabbed Axel's chin and forced his head up; with the other, he pulled down his hood. He slapped Axel across the cheeks until his eyes involuntarily opened.

"You're—_**no**_!" Axel stuttered, still clinging on to the foolish hope that his eyes had deceived him. "Not you!"

A sinister grin twisted across the man's face. "_I am Id; I am you_."

Id's red, beady-eyed gaze pierced straight through Axel. His skin was pale and leathery, and his hair matched the fiery green aura that blazed from his body. He was the mirror image of Axel if all his natural color had been inverted and dipped in a cauldron of radioactive waste and voodoo curse potions.

"You monster! You're the one responsible for all this!" shouted Axel, to which Id but laughed. "_Get your claws off me_!"

"Gladly, but only when you're gone and buried," Id hissed with a flick of his long, forked tongue. At the sight of the thing, Axel contorted his face all the more. Id tightened his grip on Axel's chin, squeezing it hard until he heard the crunch of bones. With only a fading blue flame to shield him, Axel could do little more than scream and wrap his feeble, shaking hands around his assailant's vice-like fingers in an effort to free himself. Id laughed all the more at the pathetic attempt, choosing to let go just to kick some more amusement out of his battered counterpart.

"You spineless worm," Id sneered as he kicked Axel in the head. "To think you want to go frolicking around space with a flea-ridden dog and a lame-brained duck!" He kicked him again—harder and faster. "No resistance whatsoever; no devious plan, no trickery, _no murder_. How else do you deal with a mutt and mallard? You turn them into ash and scatter the evidence into the wind."

Axel was too enfeebled and disoriented to answer. After taking countless more thrashings, his once fiery aura faded into a dim flicker.

"Once you're out of the way, I'll make Sora mine." Id grinned, his forked tongue slipping between his lips and wriggling. "Then the _fun _will begin. Who needs _chakrams _when the mightiest weapon of all is just a _heartbeat _away?" He let out an unnerving, maniacal laugh, earning a murmur of garbled noises from Axel as he tried to lift his writhing body. "Don't tell me you think I'd play _hero_ with him! You know the rule: only a strong heart can wield the Keyblade, and I'll show that little key just how strong I am when I pry it from his _former_ master's cold, shadowy claws. Then when Roxas comes around, he can be my baggage boy while I run around taking what I please. Nothing will stand in my way once I have that _precious_, gold and silver blade—and I _will_ have it; I _must_ have it."

Id summoned his own pair of chakrams—ones crafted from black and green metals. They burned with fiery, green flames as their wielder spun them like wheels between his fingers. "_Nothing_ will stand in my way," Id repeated. "Especially not a goody-two-shoes like _you_."

The end had come, and all Axel could think about in that moment as his fading aura drained from his body was the horrors that awaited Sora. He didn't care about himself—about all the things he would never live to see and do; all the people he would never meet and befriend; all the good he could do by fighting alongside Sora and the Resistance. What troubled him most of all—what tore into his heart and twisted it on its head was that Id would gain control and unleash unspeakable, unrestrained atrocities on the people Axel cared about more than his own life. Anyone unfortunate enough to get within Id's crosshairs would suffer, and it was all because of Axel's weakness and failure to restrain the beast born of his own heart.

When the chakrams came for him, Axel couldn't resist. He didn't have any energy left in him—just pain, guilt, and regret. All he could do was something he always did without consciously realizing it: he prayed. He prayed for a miracle to grant him the strength to overcome Id. Maybe it wouldn't happen right away; maybe he would die and be reborn stronger, or maybe he would be left crippled and alive in order to amass more power later. Whatever the case, it didn't matter how he gained the strength, but only that it would one day happen.

The flaming, green wheels of death sliced into Axel, and his screams drowned out the insane fit of laughter rolling out of his crazed counterpart. For a moment, red filled the black void, and then the light died.

Id laughed hysterically. Collapsing to his knees, he clutched at his abdomen as he guffawed himself into a stupor. His lungs burned and he hacked up a bunch of mucous as he continued on like a loon. But then, something unexpected happened.

Somewhere in the darkness, a voice called out to challenge Id's laughter. It was faint at first, and inaudible. But it grew louder and louder until the whole dimension shook with each spoken decibel. "Wake up!" shouted the voice, and to Id's shock, he saw a finger twitch followed by the whole hand and arm. The louder the omnipresent voice grew, the more Axel's body reanimated until the man stood tall on his own two feet.

"What the hell?" shouted Id, infuriated beyond any boundaries. "You're supposed to be dead!" He summoned his chakrams again and quickly shot them at his foe. "Die! Die!" But the chakrams bounced off Axel's rekindled aura.

"You can't touch me," Axel said, locking his stern eyes with his counterpart's wild, anxious ones. "Not while _he's_ watching over me."

Id gritted his teeth. "How can someone so small and insignificant do a weakling like you_ any_ good?"

"You're right; I am weak. But one day, Id—one day soon—I'll be strong, and that's the day I'll slap you with a muzzle."

"We'll just see about that!" Id channeled his entire fiery aura into a flaming ball in the palm of his hand. He then threw it with all the might and fervor he could muster, but before the fireball could impact, Axel countered with a powerful blast that shook the whole of the void. Powered by the same force that resurrected him, Axel's attack dealt Id a heavy deal of damage. "This isn't over!" Id spat before retreating into the endless abyss.

"You'll never be my future," Axel whispered. "I won't let you." He turned around and walked towards the direction of the voice that never ceased encouraging him.

* * *

Axel rolled off his bench and smacked face-first into the pavement. It took him a second afterwards to prop himself up and regain his bearings. "What the heck happened?" he grumbled, his voice groggy.

"You were having some kind of nightmare," said Jiminy, who stood on Axel's knee. "I kept trying to wake you until you finally up and fell. Are you alright?"

"Aside from these scrapes on my lips? Just peachy." Axel made to stand, prompting Jiminy to hop back onto the bench.

"That's not entirely what I was referring to. Your nightmare caused you a lot of discomfort. At one point, you were yelling for help!"

Axel eased himself onto the bench while licking at his wounded, bottom lip. "I don't remember dreaming anything," he said, only half paying attention to Jiminy. "Geez, maybe I should use a potion on this…"

"Are you sure you don't remember? Not even a small detail?"

"Nope." Scrounging through his pockets, Axel pulled out a napkin he had swiped from the dispenser on the café table. He got up and dipped it in the nearby fountain then pressed it against his mouth.

"So you're okay?" Jiminy pressed just to make absolute sure.

Axel lifted the napkin. "Aside from feeling like Hypnos is paying me an extended visit, I'm fine. Enough with the concern, Cricket. Sheesh…" He dabbed at his wound again. In truth, he felt much better than he had while sitting at the café. The emotional exhaustion that weighed him down earlier was replaced with a grogginess attributed to lack of sleep. But for some reason, he didn't want to doze off again. No one would bother him and the party was apt to continue for a bit longer, but Axel abstained from falling asleep. Instead, he widened his eyes and forced himself alert by pressing the cold, dampened napkin all across his face.

"Well, if you say so, Axel. I won't push the matter," Jiminy replied. "But now that you're awake, I think we should continue our discussion from earlier. I had some time to think while you were asleep, and I think these blackouts of yours are caused by the darkness inside you."

"That would make sense," Axel agreed.

"In all my experience as a conscience, I've come to know two things about the darkness: first, it always plays off your innermost desires; second, it tries to coax you into thinking the wrong way is the right way and vice versa."

"So what exactly are you trying to say?"

"Figure out what your weaknesses are—that is, the immoral things you _think_ you want in order to be happy," Jiminy explained. "The darkness will always tempt you into doing what you know is wrong. It tricks you into believing that an immoral act is both satisfying and necessary when in reality, it causes you and everyone around you more harm than good. You follow?"

"That's all a given, short stuff. But I don't see how it's going to prevent me from blacking out again."

"It'll take some time, but with hard work and discipline, you'll be able to fend off temptation by building up strong feelings of morality."

"But that doesn't help if my body's doing crazy things all on it's own!" said Axel with a rising temper and volume. He couldn't bear the thought of acting without recollection of what he was doing and why.

"That's why you have me."

Axel let out a long groan. "World of good _that_ does me…"

"_It does_. I haven't failed to get your attention once this evening. So long as I'm with you, I can pull you out of the darkness. I figure the more we work at it, the less dependent on me you'll become. Once we get to the root of your troubles, you can tackle it head-on and be free of the darkness!"

"Heh, I hope you're right, Cricket." It struck him as odd. Not more than an hour ago, he would've shut the cricket up, dismissing his words and considering him a nuisance. But now, he actually paid mind to Jiminy's advice, and the more he thought about it, the more the cricket's idea appealed to him. A strange sort of _relief_ filled him when he thought about Jiminy acting as his watchdog against the blackouts, and that confused him to say the least. But Axel didn't have much time to ponder over his new way of thinking. A large mob of people streamed in from the First District, all screaming about a Heartless attack.

"That's our cue!" Jiminy said as he hopped on Axel's shoulder and pointed his umbrella towards the First.

Tossing the wet napkin in the trash, Axel climbed up the nearest building and ran the rooftops past the crowd.

* * *

Zack leaned next to the fountain in the Third District as he watched the fireworks display continuing on in full force. After spending most of his post-battle time running around town giving personal invites to the big celebration in the First, he found a quiet niche in which to rest. An empty bowl and plate lay at his feet as he chose to eat his meal in a secluded spot where he could let his façade slip.

But most of all, he knew Aerith wouldn't find him there. Ever since she pinned him down outside the Accessory Shop, Zack knew it was only a matter of time before she would try to "help him" again. With all the ships destroyed, he looked forward to at least a few weeks worth of dodging questions and avoiding the only person in the world who could see right through him.

"What the hell makes her so special…?" Zack muttered as a group of pink fireworks exploded.

"So this is where you've been," said Leon as he approached from the direction of the Second District.

Zack fluidly slipped back into his façade. "Oh hey, Leon! I thought you were helping with the show?"

"_Someone_ needs to patrol," replied the gruff leader. "We got rid of the cannon, not the Heartless."

"That's true. Don't worry, though; the Third checks out."

"Hmph." Leon folded his arms and inspected the area with his eyes in silence for some time. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm…okay," Zack said, collapsing his smile and replacing it with a saddened frown. "It wasn't easy, but it had to be done. Angeal would've wanted that."

Leon watched Zack from the corner of his eye, taking note of how his friend averted his depressed gaze towards the ebbing waters in the fountain. His left eyebrow wriggled up and down in a subtle manner—something he used to do as a kid whenever saddened or disturbed, which wasn't very often. Zack seldom ran around without a cheery disposition. Even in times of crisis, his optimism always saw that one ray of sunshine peeking out from the dark clouds of destruction. The only time his world came crashing down was on that terrible battlefield after Maleficent declared war.

"It's best for you to move on now," Leon advised. He knew all too well the damages done by clinging to memories. "Let it all go."

"I know…"

The two sat there in silence for a bit, one fending off feigned despair while the other scanned for potential Heartless outbreaks. All was calm in the Third aside from the explosions in the sky.

Leon shifted his weight. "You were right; he's hiding something," he said out of the blue.

Zack took his sights off the fountain. "And yet you're letting him walk," he replied with an accusatory poke at Leon's chest.

"I am."

"Why? Sora could be in danger!"

"The Keyblade chooses its master, and I have to believe it made the right choice. If Sora can't handle a traitor or two, then the legend's a sham."

"Did you ever think that maybe as his friend, you could warn him?"

"I'm not going to play guardian for him," Leon stated bluntly. "That's not my role."

"But Axel's clearly hiding something."

"As long as he doesn't threaten the Resistance, I couldn't care less. Everything else is his own business."

"Are you so sure he's not a threat?" Zack pressed, not at all thrilled with the direction the conversation was taking. For the first time, Leon acted outside his predicted parameters.

"You're the one who told me he's not a spy."

"No, he's not. But what I'm saying is the Keyblade master acts as the centerpiece of our movement. Anything that threatens him indirectly threatens us."

"Let me make this clear to you, Zack: anyone who can't stand on his own two feet doesn't deserve the title of 'centerpiece' let alone that of _Keyblade master_."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?"

Leon closed his eyes. "Call it what you want, but the fact still stands that he's the chosen one."

"You really have a lot of faith in Sora."

Leon didn't answer.

"You may find this surprising to believe, Leon, but even the greatest heroes need help from time to time. Don't think he's going to fight this whole war by himself." Zack took a jab at Leon, inadvertently referring to his loner nature. But to his dissatisfaction, it backfired and produced an unforeseeable answer that made Zack realize just how out of touch he was with his supposed "leader"—a taciturn man with a strict code of conduct that he believed would never place such immense trust in a _child_.

"He won't."

The conversation died right there. Leon pushed off the wall and walked out of the District, leaving Zack alone with his thoughts.

* * *

"Tell us again how you swashbuckled with the pirates!"

"No, no—tell us about how you scared away all those ships!"

"Let me hold your Keyblade!"

"Do a trick!"

"Is it true you've slain a dragon?"

"Will you sign my stomach?"

"Kiss my baby!"

"Smile for the camera!"

All night, the people of Traverse Town bombarded Sora with more cheers and attention than he knew what to do with. It gave him a headache, and if not for the tightly interlocked wall-to-wall mob surrounding him, he would've flown the coop _long_ ago. He understood their excitement, but it troubled him that Axel didn't shine in their eyes the way he did. Heck, the only other person they cheered for was Donald, but only because he made it a _point_ to be idolized. He jumped onto the table spouting off an exaggerated version of how he "single-handedly saved the Keyblade master from the evil warlock's disciple with a powerful blizzard spell."

Whenever Sora tried to correct everyone—to tell them about the man who threw the whole plan together in such a short time and under such great pressure—his words drowned in the wave of infinite requests to hear about his life story and see his Keyblade. In the end, Sora resigned himself to letting Donald do all the talking while the Keyblade floated around somewhere like a rock star crowd surfing in a mosh pit. The night dragged on and on, and while he wanted to enjoy himself, he just couldn't when the townspeople refused to acknowledge that a _group_ of people saved their world, and not just one person with a magic key.

The celebration continued into the wee hours of the morning until the party reverberations fell silent in the wake of a Heartless attack. Several Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies flew over the crowd, casting spells that sent everyone stampeding into the other districts. Sora summoned the Keyblade back into his hand and swung it around like a fly swatter. He managed to hit two, while Donald's quick spells took down the other ten.

After those floating, bell-shaped bundles of mayhem fell, seven Large Bodies stormed out of the shadows to exact revenge. They bounced up high and crashed into the ground, quaking it enough to throw Sora and his friends off their feet. While stunned, the party was defenseless against the bowling ball maneuver pulled by the Heartless. The Large Bodies rolled into the three heroes at full momentum, sending them smack into a brick support column.

When they recovered, they went on the offensive. Goofy gripped his shield and charged into the nearest Large Body, but he bounced right off its huge, round belly. Sora experienced a similar fate when he swung his Keyblade full-force into the Heartless' drum-like stomach. The recoil from the impact almost threw the Keyblade out of his hands. Donald, on the other hand, had more luck with magic—but only by a small margin. The Large Bodies hesitated at the sight of fire, and the magician seized the opportunity to turn up the heat. However, it would take more than a bunch of fireballs to take them all down for the count.

"How are we supposed to fight these guys?" Sora shouted as he nearly escaped a Large Body's rushing belly blast.

"Keep chipping away at 'em!" Donald ordered as he shot off another spell. "They'll have to get tired at _some_ point. That's when we'll go in for the final blow!"

"Now way! At the rate this is going, the Keyblade will go flying out of my hands."

"Try aiming for their heads!" said Goofy. He grabbed the edge of his shield and spun himself around like a twister until he sent his shield flying like a Frisbee. It hit one of the Large Bodies in the head, but that only caused it mild disorientation as it stood scratching its head wondering how to attack next. "Gawrsh, doesn't look like that helped much…"

The seven Large Bodies soon backed the three heroes into a corner. Sora and Goofy continued fighting head-on in vain, with Goofy's shield bouncing off the gelatinous Heartless surface and getting wedged into a nearby wall. Donald's fireball onslaught paid off by vanquishing one Heartless, but it was a short-lived victory as the other six continued to loom near. They pounded their fists together and then pulled their pants up all the way, shaking their flabby bellies with pride as their prepared their final momentous assault. Sora held fast as the Large Bodies charged him only to disappear into floating hearts.

"Huh? What happened?" he wondered, lowering the Keyblade.

"Ha! I knew my spells would scare 'em!" Donald boasted, giving himself a proud chest-bump. "It's mob mentality. Beat one, and the rest go running scared."

"With your looks, who _wouldn't_ go running scared?"

Donald jumped in a fit of anger. "Who said that?"

"Who do you think?" Axel jumped down from the Accessory Shop roof twirling his chakrams. "Sheesh, you guys are one sad case. Watching you was like watching a bunch of Mexican jumping beans whack a cement piñata. You're supposed to attack Large Bodies from _behind_; that's where all the cellulite is."

"Why you—I oughta!" Donald rolled up his sleeves and was about to raise his staff when Sora and Goofy both pulled him back.

"Thanks for your help, Axel," said Sora.

Goofy nodded. "Yup, that was perfect timing."

"Don't mention it." Axel willed away his weapons. "Now let's talk business. It's obvious you guys need someone around who's experienced with taking down Heartless. I nominate myself to fill that position."

Steam shot out of Donald's ears as his face turned bell pepper red. He shot free of his friends' restraints swinging his fists in the air while quacking a bunch of fast and angry incoherent words.

"Donald, I thought we had an agreement! You promised me you wouldn't act this way towards Axel, and I'd agree to come with you!" Sora said, peeved that Donald broke his word.

"Forget that!" shouted the angered magician. "I want nothing to do with this guy!"

"We all go together, or no one goes—that's the deal," Sora stated both firmly and unrelenting.

"No way! He can't come! I won't have a warlock's disciple aboard my ship!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't even know who this warlock guy is!" Axel exclaimed.

"That's exactly what a warlock's disciple _would_ say when cornered!"

"Geez, there's just no convincing you, is there?"

"No. Now scram!"

On and on the two bickered, running circles around the same argument. All the while, Goofy turned to Sora for a different approach.

"I don't think it's a good idea to have Axel come along," he said.

"But, Goofy—!"

"Just hear me out, Sora; I know you said he didn't mean to up and do you in—and that's great that your plan worked to get Hook away from town. But as long as Donald has it in his head that Axel's been studyin' under the warlock, he'll grab at any excuse he can get to demonize 'im. I just can't see the two of 'em workin' together in harmony, and that could mean big trouble when we go up against the Order."

"But Goofy, Axel needs my help," Sora reasoned. "I'm not going to turn him away just because of some false accusations! What kind of friend would I be if I did that?"

Goofy let out a sigh. "Not a very good one, I'd reckon."

"Besides, he's right about the Heartless. He has more experience fighting them than we do, and it'll be good to have him along."

"Although I agree with you, try tellin' that to Donald…"

Axel tried to keep his cool as long as he could, letting the insults and name-calling roll right off his shoulders. But he could only take so much before Donald's half-baked accusations started to grind his gears. He clenched his fists, biting back the temptation to explode. If not for Jiminy intervening at the last second, the whole situation would have turned ugly.

"Now wait there just a second!" Jiminy said as he jumped out from behind Axel's ear. "I've heard just about all I can stand."

"Jiminy!" exclaimed Goofy. "So that's where you've been!"

"That's right, I've been right here with Axel. The two of us spent quite some time talking, and I've come to trust in his abilities."

Donald's beak just about fell off. "_What_?"

"Donald, I can assure you that Axel is _not_ one of the warlock's disciples. He's an honest friend who's reaching out to give you folks a hand. You should be ashamed of how you've been treating him, especially after all he's done to help against the Heartless!"

"But, but—!"

Jiminy wagged his finger, giving Donald a stern frown. "Not another word, mister! Not unless it's an apology."

Hit by a wave of guilt, Donald averted his gaze and rubbed his foot along the ground. Jiminy's words always found a way to plunge his temper below zero. "But he smelled of burnt lizard," Donald said in a soft voice like a child trying to justify a misdeed.

Sora furrowed his brows. "Burnt lizard…?"

"Yeah; all evil magicians use it to make their potions."

"Hmm…" Sora thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers. "Wait, I know! That must've been after we fought that huge Heartless."

"Yup," said Axel. "Although the bird-brain over here didn't believe me."

"Axel was telling you the truth, Donald. We both fought a large, dinosaur-like Heartless in the Second District before Hook aimed the Noventa Cannon."

Donald harrumphed and crossed his arms. "Oh yeah?"

Sora gave a solemn nod. "Yeah."

"Phooey!"

"Donald, I think you owe Axel an apology," said Jiminy.

After grinding his teeth for a bit, Donald muttered a half-hearted apology. But the frowns he earned from Jiminy and Goofy spurred him to cough up another, louder, "Sorry for calling you an evil warlock's disciple."

"Apology accepted," Axel replied. "So when do we leave?"

Donald's angry brows lowered enough to obstruct the upper half of his eyes as his complexion took on a new shade of scarlet. But he swallowed his rage, calming his shaking fists and gave a long, teary-eyed yawn. "All this Heartless business has me pooped. What's say we call it a night and set out tomorrow after a hearty breakfast?" He let out another yawn and stretched out his arms above his head, earning a suspicious eye from Axel.

"Garwsh, now that you mention it, I'm kinda sleepy m'self," said Goofy. "What do you say, fellas?"

Axel opened his mouth to object, but his least favorite band of freedom fighters stole his spotlight.

"Looks like you kids met and patched everything up, eh?" said Cid with a flick of his nose. "It's about time! Those worlds aren't going to save themselves."

"Actually, Cid, we're all kind of tired from fighting," Sora replied, letting out a yawn of his own. "Do you think we can stay in town for the night?"

"You'd be staying here for all eternity if you did that!" Yuffie joked. "How about you just stay here until you're well rested? We'll check the Hotel and see what rooms are still available."

"Sounds good to me," Donald said with a sleepy smack of his lips and another over-exaggerated stretch of his arms.

"So everything's all set with you?" Leon descended the nearby steps and joined his team. "You're all going together?"

Sora nodded. "We are."

"I see." He gave Aerith a particular look that only she could interpret, one that said: "Go on and give it to them."

"You four will want to get an early start tomorrow," she said. "You may need to purchase some supplies, so take this gift from all of us." Aerith handed Sora the 2000 munny collected by the Resistance. "Spend it as you see fit."

Sora accepted the gift and slipped it into his pocket. "Wow, thanks, guys. Now I can buy some potions from those duck brothers!"

"And this," she continued, pulling out a concealed golden vial, "is from Leon."

Sora took careful hold of it, rubbing his fingers along the pure gold casing. "What is this?" He had never seen a potion in such a small, yet exquisite vial.

"It's an Elixir," Aerith explained. "Use it only for a dire emergency when you've run out of healing options."

"Will do. Thank you, Leon," Sora said, though Leon had closed his eyes and turned his head to distance himself from the act.

Cid gave Sora a proud slap on the back. "Well, kiddo, looks like you're all set to blast off and save our sorry hides!"

"Yeah! But first make sure to get enough beauty sleep so you don't mistake an innocent little ninja like me for a Heartless," Yuffie said with a cheesy grin.

The leader then spoke up, earning silence and attention from everyone. "All of you," he said, meeting the eyes of Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Axel, "look out for each other. Keep your spirits up, and above all, never surrender to the Darkness. Good luck." Leon turned to leave, giving Aerith one final, particular glance before disappearing behind the alley. Yuffie tagged along after him while Cid made for his shop to check on his assistant.

"I'll help you get some rooms," said Aerith, and together, they all traveled to the hotel. After working out a deal with the manager, she secured the final two vacant rooms in the whole building free of charge for the night.

When Aerith handed him his keycard, Sora stuffed it in his pocket only to have his fingers run up against a second card. "I forgot," he exclaimed. "Zack gave me _his_ room."

"Did he?" The news didn't surprise Aerith. She remembered one time Zack used his shirt to warm and carry a stray cat that had got caught in the rain. The cat went off on its merry way, though Zack came down with a cold. Recalling that memory made her want to sit down with him all the more, and she vowed to confront him in the time he would be staying in town. "That's all the better. You can sleep there while Donald and Goofy get one room and Axel gets the other."

"That sounds…" Donald yawned long and loud, half falling asleep against the wall, "…good." He closed his eyes and started snoring until Goofy gently led him down the hall towards their room.

"We'll see you in the mornin', Sora," Goofy whispered. He then scrunched his brows and shook his head. "I mean _at night_—I mean whenever we wake up!"

Sora nodded. "Good night, guys." He then turned towards Aerith. "Thanks again for the gifts."

"It's the least we could do," she replied with a shake of her head. "You have a dangerous journey ahead of you, Sora. And although we can't come with you, know that you'll always have friends here to help you."

"Thank you."

"Pleasant dreams, Sora." Aerith looked at Axel and beckoned him to follow her to his room. She then started for the corner down the hall.

"Good night, Axel," said Sora.

Axel crossed his arms. "Yeah…right."

"What's wrong?"

"Why couldn't we sleep on the Gummi Ship?"

"Donald's probably too tired to pilot it."

"Isn't there an autopilot?"

Sora shrugged. "Is there?"

"Actually, fellas," said Jiminy as he jumped out from behind Axel's ear, "there's not. That ship's never had to travel too far from the castle, so the engineers never foresaw a need to install an autopilot."

Axel harrumphed. "Likely story."

"What's got your goat, Axel?" asked his new conscience.

"I still don't trust that duck."

"Trust is a vital part to teamwork and friendship. You can't have either without trust."

"Yeah, yeah; and a little suspicion in healthy doses never hurt anyone." Axel shoved his hands in his pockets and started after Aerith. "'Night, kid. I trust you more than I do any webbed-footed crash dummy."

"I _won't_ leave without you, Axel," Sora stated. "It's a promise."

Axel gave his pal a wave without looking back and then disappeared around the corner.

With a sigh, Sora retreated into the Sky Room and prepared himself for bed. Zack must have been in the room prior to his arrival because he found a pair of pajamas folded neatly on the bed. They fit a bit loose, but he managed just fine to sleep in them. He snuggled under the covers and dozed off with thoughts of the night's events whizzing through his head. Little did he know that his new teammates down the hall planned to give him anything but a peaceful night's rest.

The second the door closed behind him, Donald dropped his sleepy-duck routine and hauled Goofy to the coffee table. "Alright, Goofy—listen up! We're staging a breakout."

"I thought we were going to get some shuteye?"

Donald slapped him. "Don't be silly! How can you sleep when that evil warlock's disciple is plotting to kidnap the Key! We've got to beat him to the punch."

"Now Donald," Goofy said in a reprimanding tone, "I thought you agreed to play nice with Axel. After all, Jiminy's sure that he's no warlock's disciple."

"Aw, phooey! Don't tell me you actually believe that? Can't you see that the warlock cast a spell on Jiminy?"

"That's ridiculous!"

"Think about it, Goofy: we haven't seen Jiminy since the warlock almost _killed_ our Key. He could've been placed under any number of spells! And let's not forget that he chose to stay with the warlock instead of coming with us!"

Goofy scratched his head. "Well, surely there's some kinda explanation for—"

"There's no _time _for your cockamamie explanations! We've gotta go grab the Key and then set off to find the King!" Donald ordered with a firm poke of his staff to Goofy's ribs. "Or do you want to take the risk that the warlock will run off with King Mickey's only hope at rescue?"

"Well, no…" Bullets of sweat poured from Goofy's forehead as Donald overloaded his brain with "what-if" scenarios that didn't make much sense but scared him too much to dismiss them altogether.

"Well?" Donald demanded. "What's it gonna be, Goofy? _The warlock or the King_?"

* * *

Several knocks sounded at Sora's door, tearing him away from a strange dream involving a talking squid in a pirate hat. With a groggy yawn, he rolled out of bed and shuffled towards the door. "Who is it?" he asked while scratching his chest.

"Room service!"

"But I didn't order any room service…"

"It's courtesy of Leon!"

Sora couldn't help but smile. "Leon's just a big softie at heart, isn't he…?" With a teary-eyed yawn, he opened the door for a mustache-faced duck in a tuxedo to stroll in carrying a platter of mouthwatering desserts.

"Here you go, sir!" quacked the duck as he set the platter down on the nearby table.

Dragging his feet towards the table, Sora took another yawn before collapsing in the accompanying chair. "Looks good," he slurred before starting to doze off again, but the duck soon remedied him of that by slapping him on the back.

"Try some! Let me know what to tell the chef," he said with a twirl of his moustache.

Sora looked at the duck for a moment, squinting to see him in the darkened room. The only source of light came from the hallway, where the door to the room remained halfway open. "Do I know you?"

"Me? No! I'm just the bellboy," said the duck with a nervous little laugh. "Now eat up!"

"Well, okay…" Sora's sights lingered a little longer on the bellboy before shifting to the platter. He picked a dessert and random since he couldn't differentiate them in the dark. They smelled delicious—that's all he knew until he tasted one and realized they tasted delicious, too. "This is great!" After finishing the first dessert, he started on a second until his hand became too heavy to hold to his mouth. It fell onto the platter, followed by his snoring head.

The bellboy let out a devious laugh and signaled to the door.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Goofy asked as he entered the room and grabbed hold of Sora by the shoulders.

Donald tore off his fake moustache. "Hey, he was bound to get a spell cast on him eventually. Better from us than from an evil warlock's disciple. Now quit yapping and get hauling!" He took the legs while Goofy carried Sora's upper body out the door.

* * *

After arriving in his new room, Axel didn't do much sleeping; he didn't even glance at the bed. The second he heard Aerith's footsteps fade away, he eased open the door and tiptoed out through the back alley exit.

"Aren't you tired?" Jiminy asked.

Axel answered with a blunt "no" and continued on his way into the First District.

"Got enough sleep on the bench, did you?"

No answer came; instead, Axel continued walking until he stopped in front of the Item Shop. The second he turned the handle, the door swung open and the three, eager ducks yanked him inside.

"Welcome to our store!" Huey greeted.

"You're just in time for our _Keybladetastic Giveaway Bonanza_!" said Dewey as he tugged on Axel's arm and led him towards the cash register.

"Buy any five packs of Madam Mim's Magical Mixtures, and we'll throw in this free Keybladeriffic t-shirt absolutely free for three munny!" said Louie as he shoved a white t-shirt with what was supposed to be Sora's head and Keyblade scribbled on the front in black marker. "Everything must go in this crazy sale, so act now while supplies last!"

"Ducks," Axel thought to himself. "You just can't trust them."

"Or if you're not interested in that deal, we're also running a special on these authentic Keyblade keychain replicas!" Huey pulled out a rack of wood carved keychains from behind the counter and set them in front of Axel. "Save the world from your own backyard when using one of these keychains on your backdoor key (warning: may cause splinters)!"

"No thanks," said Axel. "I'm just here for a mega-potion. Got any?"

Louie's eyes lit up. "Do we ever!" He scrambled into the backroom and returned in a flash with an azure vial. "Here you go: one mega-potion."

Taking the vial in hand, Axel inspected it to make sure the shifty ducks didn't try to pull a fast one on him. "Mind if I take a test?"

"By all means!"

Axel uncorked the vial and dabbed his finger into the solution. He touched the dripping bit of clear liquid to his lips, and within seconds, the scrapes he had incurred earlier healed. "Not bad. This is some powerful stuff."

"Of course it is; we only deal with the finest quality potions," Dewey boasted.

"Is that why your crates are extra hard to haul?"

Huey nodded. "You bet. Those aren't just crates—they're containers of expertly mixed poultices that keep the Resistance fighting and our stock prices soaring."

"Yeah, yeah. Save me your mindless propaganda." Axel stuck the mega-potion next to the keychain rack and fingered the munny in his pocket. "So how much?"

"2000 munny," said Louie. "But because you helped us carry our stuff in earlier, we'll throw in this t-shirt with your purchase free of charge! So your grand total comes to 2003 munny."

"How about I just give you 2000 munny for the potion and you can keep your 'free' t-shirt?"

The ducks huddled together to talk it over. "Are you sure we can't interest you in the shirt?" Dewey pressed. "It's made of cotton!"

"Positive. Now do you want 2000 munny or not?"

That got them to make up their minds fast enough. They took the 2000 munny, and Axel was out on his way with a vial of mega-potion. Outside, he passed the Post Office where Pongo and Perdita sat on either side of the main door watching as he climbed the many steps leading to the Bank. Once there, he filled out some paperwork and opened a savings account with his remaining 1000 munny.

"Why put your munny in a bank?" Jiminy inquired as they left the place.

"I don't really need it," Axel replied. "Not right now, at any rate. Sora's got a generous sum from the Brooding Bunch, and any munny we come across on our travels will go straight into his pockets anyhow. I figure at least this way, I can earn some spare cash in case of an emergency without taking away from Sora's gains off the Heartless."

"I'm impressed; that's smart thinking, Axel!"

"Thanks, Cricket. I like to keep all my bases covered."

"So now that you've finished your errands, will you return to your room?"

"I don't want to sleep," Axel said in a soft voice. He stopped in back of the Accessory Shop and gazed up at the sky where a stream of smoke spiraling out of the shop's chimney obscured his view of the stars. Jumping onto a nearby crate, he climbed up to the shop's roof and settled next to the chimney, inhaling the scent of burning wood while watching the twinkling stars. "If only it were a sunset…"

"Are you afraid, Axel?" Jiminy asked.

"Of what?"

"Your dreams. Is that why you don't want to sleep?"

Axel scoffed. "That's ridiculous. I told you, Cricket: I'm not tired. I've got too many potions running through me to sleep."

"Okay," Jiminy relented, "I won't push the matter." He jotted some notes in his journal while Axel lost himself in the starscape. But then, a round of all too familiar squawks stole their attention, forcing them both to peer down into the street where Donald and Goofy lugged Sora towards the main gate. "What in the name of Walter are those two doing?" he exclaimed.

"You just can't trust ducks!" Axel leapt off the roof, landing smack in front of Donald and cutting off his path.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" quacked the magician.

"I should be asking _you_ that!" Axel exclaimed. "This is low, duck—even for you!"

"I'll show you low!" Donald dropped Sora's legs and whipped out his mage's staff. "Don't think you've got me fooled, warlock!"

Axel massaged his forehead with a groan. "Not _that _again… I'm _not_ a warlock!"

"Liar!"

"You're the liar! And a sneak! And a kidnapper!"

The two fell back into their bickering groove while Goofy could do little but watch helplessly from the sidelines. But Donald's angry banter soon took a violent turn as he summoned a large chunk of ice above Axel.

Using his quick reflexes, Axel somersaulted clear of the ice. "You crazy duck! Are you trying to kill me?" More icicles came crashing down, and despite his temptation to retaliate, Jiminy kept shouting words of peace from within his ear.

"Don't return fire!" ordered his conscience. "He'll calm down soon—just hold off until then and you'll be fine. Trust me."

More and more ice chunks obstructed Axel's path, falling from all directions and freezing most of the plaza. One wayward icicle flew into Goofy and knocked him off his feet. Sora went crashing to the ground where he awoke with a pounding headache.

"What happened…?" he groaned. It took him a few moments to clear his head, and though he remained groggy, the storm of ice shooting down from Donald's conjured storm didn't give him much of a choice but to shake it off fast. Bounding to his feet, he ran and tackled Donald to the ground. "What are you _doing_?"

"Get off of me! Off! _Off_!" Donald quacked, flailing his arms above his head.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!"

"He tried to smuggle you out of town is what," Axel informed him with a nasty snarl. "And from right under my nose!"

All three of them started pecking at each other, each trying to talk over the other. Goofy tried his luck at playing peacekeeper. But no matter how he tried to calm them, his efforts were in vain.

Then, Jiminy let out a loud whistle that stopped all the commotion. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves, bickering like that! We're a team here, fellas, and that means we can't be dishonest or mischievous with one another!" He paused to shake his head in disgust. "Honestly…squabbling in the streets! You'd think we were a pack of hoodlums! The King—better yet, the whole universe—has charged us with an important task; we've got to beat the Order and restore Light to the worlds, and to do that, we need to work together. So what do you say, gang? All friends?"

Everyone looked at each other, the anger in their eyes subsiding as Jiminy's words took root. And yet, no one made a move to apologize. Donald and Axel weren't about to yield without the other stepping up to the plate first, and Sora's grogginess started to catch up with him again, so he zoned out for a few moments.

Finally, Goofy took the initiative and stepped forward. "Well I agree with Jiminy. We can't fight the Heartless if we're too busy fightin' ourselves. We can't achieve our goals if we don't work together." He extended his hand facedown and met everyone's gaze. "All for one and one for all, ahyuck! So how about it?"

Sora stifled a yawn and placed his hand atop Goofy's. "I'm in. We all have a common goal, and we should do our best to work together and make it happen." He then looked at Axel in such a way that the man couldn't hold out any longer.

"Yeah, alright," Axel sighed and reached out his hand. "I don't have anything against you, Goof. The duck wouldn't be so bad to tag along with providing he doesn't try to _ditch me_ again in the future."

All eyes fell on Donald, who was tapping his impatient foot with a nasty scowl twisting his beak.

"Well, Donald? Are you willing to let bygones be bygones and accept Axel?" Jiminy asked.

It took him a while, but after a good huff and puff, Donald blew out all his hot steam and relented. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry, Axel. It won't happen again." Donald placed his hand atop Axel's. "All for one and one for all."

"Great!" Jiminy jumped atop the stack of hands and pointed his umbrella towards the gate. "Now what's say we get going, gang?"

"But I'm sleepy," Donald yawned. "We can leave in the morning."

Goofy frowned. "Oh no you don't, mister! You were bright-eyed and bushy tailed just a second ago. Now you get in that cockpit and fly us out of here."

"Aw phooey!" Donald crossed his arms with a huff and waddled off towards the main gate followed by Goofy.

"Come on, kid. You can catch your Z's aboard their crummy rust bucket of a ship," Axel said as he wrapped his arm around sleepy-eyed Sora and guided him towards the Zero District gummi garage.

Sora hummed. "Thanks, Axel."

When the four were strapped into the Gummi Ship, Donald fired off the thrusters and launched them clear out of the docking bay until they looked like a shooting star in the sky.

* * *

A/N: If you're unfamiliar with the works of the psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, then the name _Id_ may appear strange to you. The "id" is one of the three levels of consciousness as described by Freud and is driven by the need to fulfill instinctual, selfish urges. To put it in the most simplest of terms: the id craves pleasure. It doesn't matter who gets hurt, what goes wrong, or how unrealistically attainable something is, a person driven by his or her id will do anything to satisfy their urges.

You may have noticed how Axel now refers to Jiminy as "Cricket" with a capital C. This isn't a typo. He's now formally addressing Jiminy by his last name, whereas prior to this, he referred to him as a lowly, insignificant cricket. It's a small change, but it demonstrates how Axel's grown to respect Jiminy a little more.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Andy shivered at the clinking of their chains as the Heartless dragged their decaying feet down the hallway in pursuit of him. The more agile members of their group pitter-pattered along the ceiling, pecking their skeletal beaks all across the roof in search of a weak spot. Time was ticking; one of the Heartless squads would catch him soon. They had trapped him within his own residence hall, and all the people he once knew—all his friends, classmates, and professors—now chased after him with their heart-hungry claws. He was the last survivor on the whole campus.

Outside his door, Andy fumbled with his key, almost letting it slip through his sweaty fingers. One of the Heartless rounded the far corner, breathing heavily and wailing in an icy, ghoulish tone. It moaned Andy's name and gave a rattle of its chains. More pecks sounded from the ceiling, harder and faster. Paint chips fluttered down like snow flurries as cracks webbed across the drywall.

Andy missed the keyhole several times as he hurried to enter his room. When he finally turned the key, he thrust the door open and slammed it behind him. The echo of the chains grew louder and nearer, and Andy pressed against the back of his door, deadbolting it and praying. A loud crash rumbled outside as the beaked Heartless broke through the ceiling and pitter-pattered their way to the door.

_Peck, peck, peck_—it was as if his little sister was three again and knocking to come play with him.

Andy looked fast around the room until he caught sight of his most prized possession half dangling off his desk. As sweat dripped down his heated neck, he abandoned the door and darted across the room. He tugged his stuffed, pull-string cowboy doll by the leg, holding the brown boot up so that he had clear view of the sole. With all haste he scribbled a furious message across the sole using a black, permanent marker and then turned the doll upright.

"_AnDy…_" The chorus of Heartless moaned his distorted name many times, rising in volume as the pecking intensified. Then, a skeletal beak broke through, followed by another and another.

Andy took one last, long look into the lifeless eyes of the best friend he had all throughout his childhood, caressing his fingers along the golden Sheriff's badge glued on the cowboy's vest. "Make them reach for the sky, Woody," he whispered. Andy opened the nearby window, letting in a gust of the frigid night air that shivered him to the bone. With a mighty throw, Andy chucked the doll out the open window where it landed in a patch of bushes across the way.

The door splintered open, and a flock of raven-like skeletons cawed as they threw themselves through the broken door. The decaying zombie Heartless followed, breaking down what little jagged bits remained of the wooden frame as they trudged towards Andy.

Backing away slowly, Andy edged his way towards the window. But the agile skeletons let out a round of caws as they raced towards him and pecked him to the ground. No sooner did Andy's back hit the ground when a long, thick chain looped around his neck and forced him upright. The zombie Heartless surrounded him, reaching out their sick green, saggy arms to grab him while the skeletons continued to smash their bony beaks into his body. Both choking and riddled with pain, Andy's vision started to grow faint until a sudden voice halted the Heartless. The rough chain slid off his neck and clanked to the ground as a heavily armored man marched into the room.

"Insolent whelp." He thrust his lance down, wedging it in the ground. The swift action blew a breeze through Andy's hair that brushed aside the bangs concealing a gaping wound across his forehead. "I've grown weary of this chase. What have you done with the _Perennial Texts_?"

"Like I'd tell_ you_," Andy spat, his voice coarse.

"I detest games, child!" shouted the lancer. He slapped Andy hard across the face, his hand leaving a bright red imprint in the young man's cheek. "Tell me where they are, or I'll end you right here!"

Andy looked up at his assailant through swollen, bone-pecked eyes. It was as if Hell's dragon personified itself as a soldier. Wing-like spikes jutted out from the man's shoulder pads and the helmet shielding his head was crafted in the image of a dragon, with long fangs and sharp, yellow eyes.

"You'll _never_ stop us," Andy stated, focusing all his attention on the warrior's mouth—the only visible human part of him. "Even if you take my heart, there will be others. You can't stop what I really am!"

"And what are you but a dying breed of filth?" sneered the armored man as he dislodged his two-pronged weapon. "All it takes to exterminate you and your kind is the proper poison." With a swing of his lance, he clobbered Andy over the back of the head and caught his unconscious body just inches from the ground. "Continue the search," he ordered the Heartless before slinging Andy over his back and jumping out the window.

When the lancer touched ground, he raced ahead a few steps clear of the hall's lengthy roof before leaping a tremendous distance in the air and landing on a building in the distance. Jumping from building to building, the lancer fled from the campus with Andy.

"Oh, no… No, no, no! _Andy_!" Jolting himself to life, Woody stumbled from out of the bushes, shaking his boot free from a branch and flailing his arms in the air as he followed after his master. He chased the lancer, bounding over abandoned backpacks and Styrofoam cups, but his cotton-stuffed legs could only take him so far before he lost track of his target.

"Andy!" Woody collapsed to his knees, balling his fists and shaking them at his sides. But he didn't have long to wallow in despair. The cawing skeletons ran into the streets, followed by their undead brethren. Thinking fast, Woody caught sight of a skateboard left resting at an incline against a nearby stoop. At the top of the stairs was an assortment of half-eaten snacks abandoned by the students who lost their hearts. Woody grabbed the skateboard, letting out a grunt as he forced it over on its wheels, and then climbed to the top of the stairs to scavenge for a propulsion system. Several cans of diet soda were tipped over and empty, what little remaining of their contents streaming down the side of the stairs.

"There must be something around here—anything!"

While Woody frantically searched for something to shoot his skateboard off the campus, the Heartless drew nearer, pecking through backpacks, tipping over trashcans, and shaking open books in search of the _Perennial Texts_. With every footprint on the grass and every brush against a tree, the flora on the campus decayed, turning from a lush, vibrant green into a withered, ash-like grey. Fleeing in fear of the Heartless, worms unearthed themselves from the soil, inching their way past Woody. More insects followed as they crawled out from trees and bushes accompanied by the panicked woodland creatures that still remained.

At the sight of the stampeding herd of raccoons, rabbits, and squirrels, Woody scrapped his idea for a soda-powered skateboard escape. He instead pushed the skateboard forward to create a distraction, stunning a rabbit just long enough for him to jump on its back. Grabbing a tuft of fur, Woody hung on for dear life as the rabbit bolted clear out of the compromised campus and made a break for the highway under the veil of night.

* * *

Lightyears away from Traverse Town, resting in a star cluster near the Gamma Wormhole—the universe's bridge between its eastern and western hemispheres—was Dalmasca, a world covered in sand and home to a Resistance base of operations. Rabanastre was once the royal capital of the Dalmascan Kingdom. A proud and prosperous city under its king, His Royal Majesty Raminas B'nargin Dalmasca, the people of Rabanastre knew little of war and pestilence until the fateful day when the Order of Thanatos marched its emissaries of darkness straight into the Royal Chambers and murdered their beloved ruler in cold blood. The city collapsed, blanketed by a darkness too thick for any light to pierce. Heartless swarmed into the limestone streets, sucking out the life of the once luxurious oasis and rendering its people into broken automatons with hearts primed for the plucking.

A new city soon rose from Rabanastre's ashes, one built far from the desolate wasteland of its predecessor. Erected by slaves, the new capital city of Neo Archades housed the throne of the Order's _Vayne Solidor_. A ruthless tyrant, Vayne plundered the resources of Dalmasca and its surrounding worlds, shipping the raw materials to Hollow Bastion where they helped fuel the war effort. Those who were not yet Heartless toiled away in the hazardous mines dying from cave-ins and disease. If any managed to survive long enough, the insanity wrought by their miserable lives corrupted their hearts enough for the Darkness to consume them. It engulfed them whole, squeezing out their life force and spitting out an army of Heartless in turn.

Although the Resistance failed to save the royal city, it did not perish in the battle. Those who fended off the darkness—who struggled to protect their inner light—banded together and vowed to oppose the Order until the war saw the Realm of Light victorious over the Darkness. Allied under the leadership of Princess Ashe—rightful heir to throne and skilled warrior—the rebels fled to the defunct sewers below the ruins of their home. Hidden within in the vast maze of catacombs, they served as the Resistance's main source of intelligence via the use of an extensive network of computers designed and installed by their very own scientific mastermind, _Doctor Cid Bunansa_.

In the main control room, the head operator who supervised all major operations clacked furious strides along his keyboard as his computer flashed with strings of damaging codes. Sitting at stations on either side of him were other computer engineers typing commands into their terminals. Behind them in an isolated seat positioned in the dead center of the room allowing him a clear view of each monitor sat Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg, overseer of the current operation and right-hand man to Princess Ashe. He clenched the arm of his leather chair with one hand while the other supported his chin as he hunched closer towards the head operator's monitor in anticipation for the field report.

"We've lost signal with Agent 51," the head operator announced.

"Reestablish the connection immediately!" Basch ordered.

"Negative, Captain. We've tried everything. Agent 51 has been compromised."

"What of the data?"

"Lost."

"Any chance of retrieval?"

"No, sir. The connection was terminated."

Basch tightened the grip on his armrest. "This bodes ill for us…"

"What are your orders, sir?"

"Locate any agents nearest to Sector 50."

The head operator clacked a few simple commands into the system, and within seconds, pulled up the complete roster of Resistance personnel and their current coordinates. "Only one is within distance, sir—a courier," he replied. "Shall I contact him?"

"Who is the courier?"

"Sazh Katzroy; currently en route to New Port City with Class B cargo."

"Send him an immediate Code Blue alert with detailed instructions," Basch ordered as he slipped off his chair and marched in a hasty stride past the operator. "Detour that ship, operator! I must go confer with Her Highness." He hurried out into the damp and darkened network of tunnels comprising the base, where he jogged down the opened sluice gates and made the occasional turn at the corner until he reached a sectioned off pipe fitted with a round door. Placing his open palm in a mechanism designed to read his handprint, Basch opened the mechanized door and raced through the pipe and into a small room constructed to serve as Ashe's quarters.

Inside of the cozy, well-lit room adorned with countless shelves of books and what few Rabanastrian artworks the Resistance could scavenge, Ashe poured over the many documents littered across her desk. At her side stood a tall, sturdy knight clad in a suit of armor fitted with thick, heavy metal plates, as if he were dressed to march into battle at a moment's notice. He too invested his attention in studying a handful of documents until the unexpected visitor marched into the room.

Basch bowed and kneeled before Ashe. "Your Majesty, I bring unfortunate news regarding the _Perennial Texts_. Our agent is lost and the fate of the texts is unknown."

Ashe stood from her seat, her once pensive face contorted with distress. "How could you let this happen?"

"My apologies, Highness. Our intelligence was sabotaged, leading me to believe the agent safe to undergo the transaction. He was ambushed before he could transmit the data."

"It's not like you to make such a mistake, Basch," noted the knight in a strong, disapproving tone. "Why did you leave it up to chance?"

"There was no time, Vossler! On that side of the Medusa Cascade, it would have taken one of our ships two weeks to reach that world. I had no choice but to order it sent electronically!"

"What about that warp engine in Fair's ship?" Vossler pressed. "That could have reached its destination within minutes!"

Basch's eyes saddened. "I could not request his aid; he and his ship have been destroyed."

"What!"

Ashe covered a gasp with her hand. "Zack Fair is—no! Surely you are mistaken…?"

"Nay, Majesty." Basch shook his solemn head. "I viewed the message with my own eyes. At approximately 03:00 hours, the _G.S. Freedom_ was destroyed in the Omega Quadrant just as it pulled out of warp speed. We have notified Central Command with this information, but have yet to receive a response."

With far more pressing matters to attend to, Ashe could ill afford to mourn the loss of her comrade. She laced her fingers, holding her hands close to her chest as if in prayer and focused all her energy in tackling the matter at hand. "It is imperative that the Order never lay hands on the _Perennial Texts_. How soon can you dispatch another operative?"

"I have already done so. It is projected he will arrive at the world within twelve hours."

Vossler clenched his fists. "By then the Heartless will have caused significant damage. You're condemning that operative to his execution!"

"And what choice do we have, Vossler?" Basch contended, locking his heated eyes with his colleague's. "The Heartless are free to travel and multiply all across the cosmos while our numbers continue to dwindle. We are operating out of restricted zones with restricted access. What would you have me do?"

"I motion we contact the Commander and demand an army be dispatched to Sector 50 posthaste."

"What _army_, Vossler? The Commander alone is operating out of a base with but two able warriors aside from himself!"

"That is enough!" Ashe exclaimed. "I will not have my two captains squabbling like schoolchildren! Basch, contact Central Command and request that another warrior be dispatched to Sector 50. There must be _someone_ Leon can spare in light of this emergency."

"Very well, Your Highness." Basch bowed once more, shooting Vossler a quick glare before about-facing and marching out of the room.

"I do not believe this is a wise course of action," Vossler said after the door closed.

Ashe stared at the door for a moment before walking past Vossler to her desk. "Such delicate matters require patience." She eased back into her chair, fingers interlaced and resting in her lap.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, but we have cowered like rats in these sewers for too long! How many more years of torment must we endure before you realize that the longer we idle away our time, the stronger the Heartless become? Our countrymen are suffering as the Hangman's slaves—their daily whippings derived from the very noose around their necks—while we've made camp under the ruins left as testament to our oppressor's might! We have to fight them and we have to fight them _now_, even if it means giving a sword to anyone with an arm fit to swing it!"

"Vossler York Azelas—_remember your place_!" Ashe shouted, shooting up from her chair like a rocket. She slammed her palm against the desk in fury. "My heart is burdened with the sorrow of my people. Had I but one wish, I would trade my very soul to spare this world from its suffering! But I cannot—_will not_—allow myself to fall victim to such passion-driven hysteria as to throw away the only hope we have of winning this war! Should we fight now, Captain Azelas, we will fall and send the Resistance crippled into its grave."

Vossler averted his gaze to the floor, relaxing his clenched fists and dropping his open hands to dangle at his sides. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I spoke too rashly."

"We cannot afford to quarrel amongst ourselves, Captain. This is a harsh life, I know, but we must persevere for the sake of our people."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Vossler did not lift his head, but kept his gaze firm on the ground as he stood stiff like an empty suit of armor propped for decoration.

Ashe, on the other hand, relaxed her composure and retreated back into her chair. Taking a document in hand, she cleared her throat and once again delved into the pool of information. "Let us continue where we left off, Vossler. It must be here—the advent of the _Great Warlock Azrael_…"

"What of the texts?"

"There is nothing more I can do," Ashe replied without looking up from her papers.

"That young agent—Andy—his life is forfeit, then?"

"His sacrifice will not be in vain."

Vossler took a long, hard look at his leader, watching as her eyes darted from one document to the next. With a straight-lined mouth closed tight across her rigid face, Ashe made it clear that her priorities rested within her current work and nowhere else.

"My apologies, Highness, but I require a moment to compose myself. Please excuse me." Not waiting for permission, Vossler rushed out the door.

Ashe reclined in her chair, casting her eyes to the side wall where what remained of her father's portrait leaned against a marble statue. Charcoaled marks outlined the bottom-right corner of the painting where the fire that devoured the palace left its mark on the King's deteriorated chest. A man with a steady gaze, firm posture, and regal aura, King Raminas modeled for his portrait on a balcony overlooking the marvelous architecture of his kingdom's capital.

"What would you have done?" Ashe wondered as she stared into her father's eyes—determined, unrelenting ones they both shared. Her mind wandered to King Mickey and Zack, two valiant freedom fighters who perished long before their time. When she first met Mickey, he arrived in secret with Zack, who acted as ambassador for the others that pledged loyalty to the Resistance Movement. Bringing order to the madness, Mickey offered hope in the power of numbers and forged the alliance she continued to honor.

"Good men have fallen," the princess murmured. "But what hope have we if good men do not fight?" Ashe took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, giving a firm nod to herself as encouragement before refocusing on the documents.

* * *

Despite the Keyblade's departure from the world, Traverse Town continued to suffer from an influx of Heartless. Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies circled around the rooftops of each district, while Large Bodies took heavy, laborious strides in the plaza of the Second. Soldiers clanked all across the First, spiraling their helmeted heads into every civilian in sight. Shadows pooled out from the Third's every nook and cranny, shielded in a lightning storm perpetuated by Yellow Operas. Quakes, blizzards, wild fires, and electrical storms terrorized all three districts until the swords, shuriken, and spells of the town's guardian forces cut the Heartless party short.

The team split up to cover more ground. Zack, still in the Third, faced down the lightning-shielded Heartless with a storm of daggers; in the First, Aerith summoned an array of powerful magicks that took the Soldiers off guard; Yuffie took to the rooftops and ran circles around the whole town as she struck down the many bell-shaped, meteorologically impaired Heartless that filled the night air like locusts. Meanwhile, their leader threw himself into the midst of a one-sided battle between some unfortunate newcomers and a band of hungry, gut-rumbling Large Bodies eager for fresh hearts.

The family of three—a father and his two children—hardly had time to adjust to their new surroundings and gain their bearings when out of the shadows rolled a band of Large Bodies intent on knocking the family over like a bunch of bowling pins. The young boy and girl latched onto their father's legs and stood both petrified and trembling as the Heartless rolled nearer.

"_Get down_!"

Charging with his Gunblade at the ready, Leon jumped in the middle of the Large Body belly-bop jamboree. He spun himself round like a spinning top, leaving the Gunblade extended to slice into the Heartless multiple times and send them flying.

"Run towards the clock tower and turn into the last street," Leon ordered the family while the Large Bodies shook their heads clear of their newfound daze. "There's a house at the very end; they'll protect you there." With a quick word of gratitude, the father grabbed his children by the arms and rushed them away from the recovering monsters.

Leon guarded the family as they ran, taking on two Large Bodies simultaneously. The gelatinous blobs of darkness bounced towards each other trying to pincer him, but smacked into themselves instead when Leon fell flat on his chest. Like two super balls colliding head-on, the Large Bodies rammed into each other and flew in opposite directions, slamming against the protective barrier shielding the town's buildings. Not wasting a second, Leon channeled energy into his Gunblade until it glowed with an electric blue hue and the blade grew three times its normal size.

"Blasting Zone!" he shouted as he grabbed the hilt with both hands and swung the blade full-force into the ground. Dozens of super-powered blasts of energy erupted from the ground in a straight line and shot clean through backsides of the disoriented Large Bodies, destroying them in the process. Two hearts floated into the air, followed by three more as Leon repeated the process.

The last standing Large Body refused to go down without a fight, however. Partnered with a Green Requiem that sprinkled his plump amigo with an endless stream of healing spells, the Large Body managed to stomach all of Leon's assaults.

But before Leon could devise his new strategy, a little girl's horrified scream forced his attention to the far end of the plaza. Just two feet from Roger's street, a ring of Red Nocturnes materialized and cut off the fleeing family. After dodging a belly-bump from the Large Body, Leon spun on heel and raced towards the civilians. With a proud bump to his enormous gut, the Large Body gave thunderous chase.

Fireballs streaked through the sky as the Red Nocturnes darted around their prey. The children's father hid them behind himself as he backed them up against the nearest building and outstretched his arms to shield them from assault. Though fire devoured every inch of his clothing, he stood stiff and unrelenting even as tears of pain streaked down his cheeks. He bit down hard, forcing his jaw closed so that he didn't howl out in agony and scare his children even further. Even when the flames licked at his bare flesh, the persevering thought of protecting his family kept him on his feet until the bitter end.

Tears and sweat pouring down his melting face, he couldn't even take one last breath to tell his son and daughter how much he loved them before a Nocturne speared into his chest and gobbled his heart. Right before their horror-stricken eyes, the two children watched as the outline of their father faded into the flames, leaving behind a newborn Nocturne all peppy and ready to spit its own fireballs.

The brother and sister wailed for their father as they hugged each other tight and waited for the swarm of Heartless to attack. But they never got the chance. With a swing of his Gunblade, Leon batted the bell-shaped Heartless clear of the children and struck them down one by one until only the newborn remained. The Red Nocturne zoomed and bobbed about, all frisky and fiery. It dodged around Leon, making a swoop for the defenseless kids who continued to cry. Without hesitation or pause of any sort, the Nocturne launched a round of fireballs and rushed in to grab the two, young hearts. Leon blocked the attack, and with a single swipe of the Gunblade, vanquished the Heartless.

With that job done, he turned to focus on the frightened children. But the second he turned his back, the forgotten Large Body whacked him into an adjacent building. With a groan, Leon took a minute to rub his aching head before forcing himself to his feet. Exhausted, bruised, and disoriented, Leon stood hunched with a hand continuing to massage his head. A loud ringing filled his ears and for a second he thought a second Large Body and Green Requiem materialized only to realize when two Gunblades came into view that he was suffering from a bout of double vision.

Leon could offer little defense against another smack from the plump Heartless. The Large Body slammed its enormous gut into him, knocking the warrior off his feet. The Requiem bobbed up and down as if to laugh at the pathetic sight before sprinkling his buddy with a few more streams of healing droplets. Taking several strides back, the Large Body again pounded its belly before jumping up and bouncing his way towards the dazed warrior.

A large, black shadow draped over Leon as the Heartless fell from the sky to belly-bash him flat into the pavement. He could do little to shield himself in his disoriented state. The ringing in his ears grew louder, and every step he took forward wobbled his body in every direction but where he wanted to go. Leon was a sitting duck who lacked the strength and clarity of mind to brace himself for impact.

In the end, however, it mattered little whether Leon could even manage to stand let alone raise a hand in defense. The Large Body plummeted only so far before exploding and sending its heart floating into the night sky. In its place, Yuffie somersaulted through the air and touched down with a triumphant twirl of her throwing stars.

"Geez, Squall—I turn my back for one minute and you're off gallivanting around town like the King of Fools!" It didn't take long for Yuffie to realize that her fearless leader was about to collapse; he didn't make a single quip about his name, never mind the fact that his Gunblade rested far to the side while he extended his arms like a blind man feeling around for a wall.

Not wasting another moment, Yuffie launched back into the air and snatched hold of the fleeing Requiem. "C'mere! You're the only Heartless that's actually _useful_." The Green Requiem tried to shake free of the ninja's hold, swinging its bell frame in every directions. But no such luck; Yuffie had the stickiest fingers in all the worlds. She soon managed to weigh the Heartless down low enough for it to sprinkle its little trail of healing drops over Leon.

"Thanks, little pal!" Yuffie said as she let one hand drop of the Requiem. "I'd almost hate to stab ya, but I can't have you flying around healing more baddies." With a quick flex of the elbow, Yuffie jabbed a dagger lightning fast into the Requiem multiple times until it disappeared. She then touched down with a bow and sheathed the dagger.

"Feeling better?"

Leon nodded. With the ringing gone, he could actually hear her this time. Though some of his injuries healed, his body continued to ache. But he didn't have time to rest, not when those two, orphaned children continued to cower and cry behind a nearby bench. He picked up Gunblade and sheathed it before approaching them with Yuffie tagging along at his side.

"It's okay; they're gone now," said Leon as he kneeled down to level himself with the kids.

"B-b-but…w-what about D-Daddy?" sniffed the little girl. "W-where's D-Daddy…?"

"Your Daddy's gone on a trip. He won't be back for some time."

"B-but why would he l-l-leave?" stuttered the little boy. "Daddy w-w-would _never_ l-leave us!"

"Daddies never _want_ to leave," Leon said in a soft, gentle voice reserved for a side of himself that Yuffie and the others seldom ever got to see. "But sometimes, bad things happen and they have to leave so that their children can be safe."

"D-did Daddy go b-back home?" hiccupped the little girl. "W-why can't _we_ go b-b-back h-home? I-I miss my dollies a-and flowers…"

"Because it isn't safe right now."

"Is Daddy safe?"

"Yes." Leon wasn't lying; nothing could hurt their father anymore now that his heart faded away.

In their young age and disoriented state the kids seemed to believe him, but Yuffie wondered if getting their hopes up like that was a good idea. After all, they didn't know whether or not someone who lost their heart could ever regain it and return to normal. In her experience, coming to terms with the truth and making peace with it allowed her to move on with her life rather than letting past horrors fester and weigh down her spirit.

"A-are _we_ safe?" asked the boy.

"You are if you stay close to me," said Leon. He then rose to his feet and turned to his partner. "Yuffie, I'm taking them to Roger's. I want you to check on Zack in the Third and make sure the road to the orphanage is clear."

"Right-o, Boss!" Yuffie replied with a salute. "Want me to pick you up a potion on the way? You're still looking a bit green around the gills."

Leon shook his head. "There's not much more left to heal."

"Then it sounds like you need some time alone with your pillow and blanket."

"No time."

"Your shift ended _six hours ago_. If rest is what you need, rest is what you'll get. You're going to hit the hay whether you like it or not."

"The Keyblade's presence has sent the Heartless into a frenzy. We can't afford to soften our defenses."

"You think I don't know that? _Please_, Leon—I wouldn't gulp down two whole pots of coffee for my _health_," Yuffie replied with a twitchy eye, referencing her coffee drinking binge from earlier that evening. "Just leave the next two shifts to me!"

In his weariness, Yuffie's adamant and surprising answer caught Leon off guard. "I see. Planned that far ahead, did you?"

"Yup, and with Zack here, you _really_ have no excuse. Now get over to Roger's cozy home and have him pour you and the kids some warm milk. I'll be back in a jiffy!" Without allowing Leon the time to protest, Yuffie used her ninja speed to vanish in the blink of an eye.

Taking the kids by the hand, Leon led them to Roger's house where a flood of happy, barking puppies greeted them at the door. That served as a playful distraction for the distraught children, and once Leon explained the situation, Roger and his wife Anita brought out a tray of cookies and milk for the children and a cup of hot tea for Leon.

"Those poor children… At the very least, we can take some comfort in knowing these tragedies will soon end," said Roger as he watched the children chase the puppies down the narrow hall. "The Keyblade is found and the Heartless now scramble in fear."

Leon didn't reply or show any signs of listening. He sat in a nearby armchair, holding his mug of tea in both hands and staring into its ebbing swirls. What happened to those kids' father was just one more bundle of failure to toss into the hellfire of blame and guilt raging in Leon's heart. "I wasn't fast enough," he thought. "It's my fault he's dead. I wasn't fast enough."

Before long, Yuffie came rapping at the door. "Sorry for the wait," she said as she entered and snuck a cookie from off the tray. "A couple of Yellow Operas charged themselves enough to magnetically strip Zack and me of all our equipment. It took us _forever_ to jump up high enough to smack those little buggers senseless."

"Did you speak to Edea?" Leon asked after a moment of silence, in which Yuffie decided to munch on another cookie.

"Sure did. But she's running out of beds. We're looking at a maximum of 20 more before the max capacity's hit."

Leon let out a long exhale in effort to avoid yawning. "The King's ordered that we maintain the project as planned. Construction will start as soon as the shipment arrives."

"I know, I know—hey, Anita, how much sugar did you put in these cookies?"

"Not a terrible amount," Anita replied. "About one fourth cup or so."

"Aww, too bad. I could've used a sugar high or two."

"You're overdoing it," Leon warned, but Yuffie just waved him off.

"I'll go on a detox diet next week. Besides, the only one overdoing is the guy who thinks he can still function after running around enforcing laws, whacking Heartless, and maintaining the town's secrecy nonstop for eighteen hours straight."

"Whatever…"

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just take those little tykes off your hands and get them settled at the orphanage."

"Tell Edea I'll drop by after breakfast."

"No way, José! At the rate you're going, Aerith's going to padlock your door until you get eight hours of sleep or more."

"_You told Aerith_?" Leon tightened his grip on the teacup.

"Not exactly. While I was battling it up on the rooftops of the First, she called up to me and said I should take your place so you could get some R&R. You know how Aerith is—she acts like the team doctor."

Leon glared at his hyperactive partner, whose left eye kept twitching involuntarily every few seconds. Even her legs couldn't keep still; she was always stepping forward and backward and bending her knees. Evidently the team's "doctor" didn't think an overdose of caffeine was as serious as staying awake and a fighting for a few hours extra. Yuffie needed rest, too, and a serious disciplinary scolding to remind her how to speak to her leader. But Leon was in no mood to argue, let alone play parent to someone determined to keep her body in a constant state of shock and alert. So he just grunted as silent permission for Yuffie to leave and returned his gaze towards the dark amber tea resting in his hands.

"C'mon, kids! It's time for bed," Yuffie rounded up the children, who were reluctant to part from their newfound puppy pals.

"But we want to play some more!" whined the little boy as he blinked his heavy-lidded eyes.

"Can we please play for just a little more?" said the little girl through a yawn.

Roger gave a hearty chuckle. "You can come back and play with the puppies anytime you'd like."

"Really?" the brother and sister asked in awe.

"Really. But for now, it's your bedtime and this nice, young lady has been kind enough to find you a comfortable place to sleep."

With a round of tired, sleepy-eyed yawns, the children said goodnight to the puppies and then to Roger and Anita. Before leaving, they thanked Leon, who gave them a small smile as he bade them goodnight.

"It always warms my heart to see you with children, Leon," said Anita after everyone had left. "It's the only time you're not so guarded."

Leon fought hard not to blush and took a swig of his cooled tea. "I should be going too," he said.

"Why don't you stay here for the night?" Roger suggested as he eased himself into the chair opposite Leon. "The hotel's a way down the road and you might bump into another mob. Besides, with Pongo here, there's nary a thing to worry about. Well, when he returns from his walk with Perdita, that is—what's keeping those two?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to decline. I want to do some paperwork before I go to bed." In truth, he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts for a while. An innocent man died that night, and the full weight of responsibility fell on Leon's shoulders. Fire flashed in his mind, and he could see that man's face melting, melting into a different face—one that stabbed him in the heart. What was once a tuft of short, balding blond hair sprouted out into long, black hair tied into a pony tail; hazel eyes morphed to green and pierced through the fire, boring holes into Leon's soul. Even the ragged, fire-eaten clothing took on a bluer hue with rolled up sleeves and casual, easy fit pants. When the boots turned into sandals, it was all Leon could do to maintain his composure.

"Ah, of course," said Roger, unawares of Leon's internal struggle. "The work of a leader is never done, eh? Even with a legendary hero amidst his ranks."

"Do try and rest, Leon," said Anita. "You're looking rather pale. Shall I pack a thermos of tea for you?"

Leon shook his head. "Thank you kindly, Anita, but that's not necessary. I really should get going." He set down his teacup on the nearby coffee table and made for the door.

"Are you sure there's nothing more we can do for you?" Anita pressed as she and Roger followed Leon to the door.

"You've done enough already. Please don't worry about me." Some puppies barked and jumped at his heels, wanting to say goodbye too. Leon bent down and patted their heads.

He bade Roger, Anita, and the puppies goodnight and then set off for the hotel. But he didn't get too far before someone called out his name from across the plaza.

"Leon!" Aerith came running down the street from the direction of the Third.

"Is there a problem?" the leader inquired in a stiff voice, doing his best to stand straight and look focused.

"I was worried about you. I saw Yuffie; she told me what happened. It's not y—"

"_Don't you dare_!" he roared, using all of his reserved energy and crumbling his feeble façade. Now standing hunched with a hand to his aching, heaving chest, he glared at Aerith with angry eyes. But nothing he did could intimidate Aerith. On the contrary, she toughened herself up and shot Leon a paralyzing glare of her own.

"Don't I dare what? Tell the truth? You can't be serious, Leon!"

"The only truth here is that a man died tonight because I wasn't quick enough to save him!"

"Wrong. The _real_ truth is that a man died tonight in order to distract the Heartless long enough for you to save his two children!"

Leon said nothing but didn't break eye contact, tacitly signaling Aerith to continue.

"Don't you see? That boy and girl are alive because of you and because their father did his duty to protect them as long as it was in his power to do so. You can't keep blaming yourself for something the _Heartless_ are responsible for, because unless you seriously want to tell me that _you're_ the one who ate that man's heart, there's nothing left to punish yourself with."

They stood with their eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity to Leon until he finally dropped his head in defeat. "If only it were that simple," he said in a quiet, strained voice.

Aerith took a step forward, softening her countenance and reaching out a gentle hand. "It _is_ that simple, Leon. You're just too obsessed with making things harder than they have to be." She placed her hand on what little room remained on Leon's chest and whispered an incantation. Soon, her hand and everything around it glowed with an ethereal green.

"I really didn't need another Cure spell," Leon muttered. Though if pressed to admit it, he did in fact feel better. He let his arm fall to his side and took in a deep breath. The once aching and burning sensation in his chest had subsided.

"Heartless magic isn't meant for humans," Aerith replied, letting her hand linger to check for a normal heartbeat before retracting. "You'll need to rest before you're fully healed."

"I was going to do just that before you barred my path."

"Then don't let me keep you any longer." Aerith smiled as she bowed and moved to the side to allow Leon passage.

With a hum, Leon started on his way again. But after taking several steps past Aerith, he stopped, and without looking at her said: "You're in charge."

"Don't waste energy stating the obvious!" she scolded.

"Whatever." With that, Leon continued his way towards the hotel. After he entered the first set of doors into the lobby, he thought he was in the clear to make it to his room without further hassle. But no sooner did he reach for his keycard when a voice came calling from behind him.

"Mr. Leon!" A little girl of about ten years old dressed in a long, white night gown with a pink, turban-like hat covering all but her bangs of sandy blond hair came skipping up to him.

"Relm… What are you doing wandering around alone at this time of night?" Leon said as he turned to face the girl.

"I couldn't sleep," Relm sighed as she fiddled around with a piece of paper in her hands. "You know how that fussy old man likes to rant about the end of days every night. He went on overdrive after we met the Keyblade kid today."

"You mean your grandfather?"

Relm rolled her eyes. "No, I mean the _other_ fussy old man who forgets to comb the breadcrumbs out of his beard, smells like month-old potions, and snores loud enough to scare the hearts out of the Shadows!"

"If you say so," Leon said, walking up to the wall and leaning against it. This was going to take a while. "So what's the problem—his snoring keeping you up?"

"Uh-uh."

"Then why aren't you in bed?"

"Weren't you listening? It's cuz I got to meet the Keyblade kid today!" Relm almost squeed like a fangirl as she went on and on about how "super special awesome" the Keyblade looked in person and how "jaw-droppingly handsome" Sora was and how she would one day marry him and paint their wedding portrait to hang above the mantel in their mansion.

All the while, Leon had closed his eyes and made occasional "mm-hmm" and "uh-huh" sounds so that the love struck girl wouldn't catch on that he was drifting asleep. But then she jolted him awake by wrenching one of his crossed arms free and slipping her piece of paper into his stunned hand.

"See, see?" she said with pure excitement. "This is what it's going to look like!"

Leon blinked the haze from his eyes before focusing on the picture in his hand. It was of a wedding expertly drawn in colored pencil and painted with watercolors. If he didn't know about Relm's artistic talent, he would've thought she had swiped it from a gallery.

"See, that's me there," Relm said while standing on tip-toe and pointing at the tall bride with exaggerated anatomical features. "And that there's my hubby the Keybearer." She tapped her finger on Sora, whose spiky locks suffered from a massive haircut. "That's Grandpa acting as the priest since he's old enough for it, and that's you with Miss Aerith, Big Sis Yuffie, and Uncle Cid cheering from the stands."

Leon frowned. She had given him a haircut, too.

"And that," with a small, sad smile, Relm pointed to the man in a tuxedo standing next to her, his face concealed by her shadow, "…is my Papa. He's giving me away, see?"

"Yeah. That's great, Relm," Leon said kindly. He forced a smile.

Relm stood flat on her feet again. "Isn't it, though?" She stifled a yawn.

"It's late. You should go back to bed."

"I 'spose," Relm said, giving a quick glance to the nearby wall clock. "It's almost time for Grandpa's nightly trip to the bathroom, and that old fuddy duddy'd throw a fit if I wasn't filling the room with Z's."

Leon hummed and pushed from the wall, extending the painting back towards its creator. But Relm shook her head.

"You keep it. I want someone who's special to me to have it."

"_Just how am I special?"_ Leon wanted to say, but he held his tongue.

"I'd give it to Grandpa, but I sometimes catch him blowing his nose into my art when he can't find his hanky. Plus I really don't want to explain when I drew it, or else the jig is up."

"In other words, I'm only special because I won't cover your painting with mucus or punish you for staying up late," Leon thought.

"Well, I'd better turn in now. You should too, Mr. Leon. Your eyes all are droopy and blood-shot and stuff. 'Night!" With a quick wave, Relm skipped off down the hall and ran up the stairwell.

Leon let out a sigh and folded the painting, slipping it into his pocket before sliding the keycard through the reader outside his door. But as he reached to turn on the lights, he froze at the sight of the open windows across the way. "That's not how I left them," he thought while fingering the hilt of his Gunblade. The door suddenly shut behind him, and Leon jumped back with his weapon drawn.

A masked man dressed in all black attire stalked out from the shadows, outlined only by the pale moonlight pouring through the open windows.

"It's you." Leon sheathed his Gunblade.

"He's going to _Death Peak_," said the man.

Leon said nothing, instead bringing his hand up to massage the newfound tightness in his forehead.

"My services require an additional 5,000 to follow him there."

"Have you found anything?"

"I never do. Maybe you want to reconsider your investment. In all the time you've had me tailing him, there's never been a shred of evidence—not even the tiniest bit. You still think there's any to be found?"

"There has to be," Leon persisted, involuntarily touching his chest as if there was an invisible hand placed there giving him warmth. "The only explanation left is psychosis, and I refuse to accept that." Reaching into his pocket, he yanked out his wallet and handed the masked man a wad of cash.

"Well, it's your munny." The man counted the bills. Satisfied with the amount, he stuffed them in a pocket concealed beneath his long, black sash. "Just so you know, I won't be held responsible for what happens up there. He dies and it's your problem."

Leon remained silent as he sat down on the bed, his eyes downcast as the intruder made to jump out the window. "Wait," he said suddenly. Leon reached into a different pocket and pulled out the folded painting. "This was meant for you."

The man just started at the thing as Leon unfolded it. "I can't," he said in a heavier tone. "My hands would taint its innocence." Without another word, he jumped out the window and disappeared into the night.

Leon sighed and fell flat on his bed. After kicking off his shoes, he rested the painting on the nearby nightstand. "I need to go to the bank tomorrow," he grumbled before closing his eyes and drifting into a blazing nightmare filled with the howls of the damned.

* * *

Cid Highwind kicked a large crate of gummi blocks with a huff. "Dagnabbit! Can you believe this? This is all we've got left!"

"Well, kupo, no one told you to blow up _all_ the ships," muttered Atla, the lead moogle engineer. He hovered atop the crate with a crowbar and pried it open. "Oh joy; a whole crate of vernier thrusters."

"Say what?" Cid's jaw just about unhinged itself. "That's supposed to be a box of pearl-coated base blocks!"

"Well it's not, kupo." Atla tossed a thruster at Cid, nearly flattening him if he hadn't jumped out of the way.

"I ordered base blocks!" Cid shouted, his face turning purple. "_Base blocks!_ What the hell are we supposed to do with a crate full of thrusters without any ships to stick 'em on?"

"Roast marshmallows?" the moogle offered.

"Oh shut up, Atla! Get real! This is a crisis, here!"

"I'm just trying to make light of things, Chief."

"Well it's not helping. Just go and get me a stack of order forms. Gotta put in a rush delivery now—you know how much that's going to set us back?"

"I could do the math, but you won't like it, kupo," Atla replied as he flew towards a wall of filing cabinets.

"We'll be defenseless for at _least_ a month," said Cid with a flick of his nose. He muttered some incoherent expletives under his breath as he snatched the order forms from Atla and sat down to fill them out.

"Oh, that reminds me—put in an order for the new Mark IV laser. I was talking with Gumo the other day, and they just finished testing it. It has a seven percent increased blast radius and auto rear targeting."

"Sounds good to me. I'll attach it to the _Kingdom_ since those guys are the only ones doing any flying. I still wish they would've told me that they wanted to leave tonight. Could've given 'em an extra thruster or two."

"Or two _hundred_," Atla muttered.

As Cid ran down the checklist of gummi blocks to order and Atla moved the thrusters for storage, a new moogle flew into the room and buzzed circles around the place crying, "Urgent message in the Com Room! Urgent message in the Com Room!"

Cid got to his seat and slipped his pen behind his ear. "From where?"

"Dalmasca's issuing Emergency Code Beta! Dalmasca's issuing Emergency Code Beta!"

Without another word, Cid ran for the Com Room and picked up the radio. "This is Lancer, do you copy? Over."

There was static for several seconds before a gritty, muffled voice came over the speakers. "Copy that, Lancer. This is Dispatch 3. We have an emergency message from Sector 8. Please adjust frequency as follows." Cid took the pen from his ear and jotted down the string of numbers recited by the voice. "Channel will remain open for fifteen minutes, Lancer. Over."

"Roger that, Dispatch. Over."

The line went dead and Cid hurried with the dials on the radio to adjust the frequency. "This is Cid Highwind," he said. "State your message."

"Cid, this is Captain Ronsenburg speaking," crackled a new voice.

"What's the problem, Basch?"

"I must speak with the Commander immediately."

"No can do, son. Don't got the time for it. Tell me what you have to and I'll relay it to him."

"I need to request that you dispatch an operative."

"What the hell for?"

"It's urgent. The _Perennial Texts_ have been compromised."

"The hell!" Cid shouted, his face again taking on a purple hue. "What in blazes do you boys think you're doing out there? Do you have any idea what kind of blunder you just pulled?"

"That hardly needs reiterating. Our agent has either been eliminated or abducted. We haven't the time to send one of our own for investigation due to distance restraint, but it would be far more effective and time conscious to dispatch an operative from your location."

"Dammit! And with the hyper gummi gone, this makes things even messier!"

There was a pause. "…Then you know about the unfortunate fate that has befallen the _G.S. Freedom_?"

"Of course I do! I'm the one who set it to blow."

"You _what_?"

"Oh, right; you don't know. Heh." Cid gave a nervous smile, though Basch couldn't see it. "Look, we didn't have a choice but to scuttle it. When the Keyblade came to town—"

"The _Keyblade_?"

"Yeah. When it showed up, so did a bunch of the Order's flunkies. We had to lure them away from town by making 'em think the kid and his key were aboard the ship and yadda, yadda. Look, you don't have time for this story! I'm sorry, Basch, but I don't think there's anyone we can spare right now. I've gotta stay here and rebuild the fleet, and with the Keyblade making its debut, the kids have their hands full keeping down the agitated Heartless."

"But there must be _something_ you can do," Basch pressed. "How about an operative from New Port?"

"Or maybe I can go."

Cid turned around to see Zack leaning in the doorframe. "The hell are you doing sneaking up on people like that, boy?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. I came over to borrow some of your moogles. There's a power shortage in the Third—a couple Operas blew out the power line."

"Zack, it is truly a tremendous relief to hear your voice," Basch said in all sincerity. "We had feared the worst when your ship was destroyed."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Zack said as he drew closer to the radio. "So you need an extra hand out there?"

"Yes. There has been a serious incident in Sector 50 and we require immediate assistance."

Zack gave an enthusiastic fist pump, eager to get off the world. "If that's the case, sign me up!"

"Whoa, whoa! Hold your britches!" Cid exclaimed. "That's all well and good, but we don't got a _ship_ to get you there!"

"Oh, right…"

"What of the Keybearer?" Basch suggested. "Surely he has a ship…?"

Cid shook his head. "That's a big negative. The kid already took off and is primed to land in a few. He'll be out of contact for a while, but I can send him your way after that."

"It will be too late by then."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Cid's watch chimed, filling the room with the melody from the old days. "Listen, Basch, you've got five more minutes before the pencil necks close the line."

"How soon before you acquire a new ship?"

"Four to ten weeks. Gotta order new blocks since all I've got is a crate of thrusters."

"That is too—"

"Wait, I just got an idea!" Zack interjected. "We can ask Paine to come pick me up, and then the two of us will jet over to Sector 50."

"What're you talkin' 'bout, boy?" said Cid. "It takes a day to get here from New Port alone! You'd need another three days to get to Sector 50!"

"True, true… but what if you upgraded Paine's ship with all those extra thrusters you just mentioned?"

Cid muttered something under his breath as he scribbled some quick formulas with his pen. "Hmm…that could shave off sixty-three hours provided the hull doesn't melt."

"See? That's practically three days right there!" Zack said with a smile and he slapped Cid on the back. "Basch, we can be there within thirty-three hours. That good enough for you?"

"It's acceptable provided there's still hope," Basch replied.

"There's always hope."

"Indeed. We must always hold true that the Light will prevail in the end. Gentlemen, I thank you both."

"You hang in there, Basch," said Cid, and the line went dead. He then fiddled around the frequency again. "Now to get in touch with New Port…"

* * *

His body shivering in the cold, damp dungeon, Andy wished his teeth would chatter louder so that he didn't have to hear the many shrieks and screams echoing through the dungeon as the armored lancer dragged him against the cold, cobbled ground to an empty cell.

"Get in there, wretch!" snarled the lancer as he kicked Andy into the dark cell and slammed the bars shut behind him.

Andy could hear the clank of the lancer's armor fade as he walked away from the cell towards the exit. After a while, when he managed to get the nerve and energy to move, Andy slowly propped himself up and crawled to one of the two cots bolted and chained to the wall. Perhaps the cold, hard ground was a more merciful bed, for the cot felt like a slab of rock plated in bumpy steel. It gave off a nauseating smell, and a couple of springs poked through the fabric, scrapping his limbs when he tried to climb up it.

The dank cell was so dark, that Andy could make out very little of his surroundings. The only light came from a fire-lit torch hung from the wall in the distance. Aside from the cots and what he perceived as a boulder tucked in the corner, he could see nothing else in the darkness. Even the rats sharing his cell only made themselves known by their scampering squeaks.

Andy felt around for a relatively soft spot on his cot and drew up his knee close his body, both to get away from the rats and to warm himself. He continued to shiver and tighten his arms around his knees until a sudden, heavy voice scared the living daylights out of him.

* * *

A/N: This chapter primarily focused on fleshing out the Resistance. Although Sora is the legendary Keyblade master, he's not alone in the fight. I wanted to show something I feel the games lacked: the universe in which Sora exists. The Heartless ravaged many homes and destroyed many lives before Sora ever touched a Keyblade. You never get to see the extent of everyone's struggles against the Darkness outside of Sora's perspective, and I think that's a real shame.

I had originally intended to include the Order in this chapter as well, but I felt it would have been too much. So like I've done in the past, I'll bump that section up a chapter.

With regards to the universe having western and eastern hemispheres: some scientists theorize that the universe is donut-shaped, whereby if you travel far enough in one direction, you'll loop around the universe and wind up right back where you started. I'm applying a similar concept to the universe I've created.

On another note, since this isn't a game and there's no Jiminy's Journal to chronicle the characters you meet, I figured I'd start identifying the Disney and Final Fantasy characters that appear in the story. I'll only list characters that have both appeared physically and have been named. So if there's a character that appears but has no name, or a character is mentioned in the story but does not have an active role, they will not be chronicled until both criteria are met.

In order of appearance:

Andy Davis - _Toy Story_ 1-3

Woody – _Toy Story_ 1-3

Basch fon Ronsenburg – _Final Fantasy XII_

Ashelia (Ashe) B'Nargin Dalmasca – _Final Fantasy XII_

Vossler York Azelas – _Final Fantasy XII_

Relm Arrowny – _Final Fantasy VI_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

I wish to dedicate this page as a continuation in my studies of magic, for it is vital to address a type of magic that I believe merits its own section. I have already discussed the source of all magic and how both humans and Nobodies have come to wield it, yet there is another field entirely—a forbidden one that few mortals know of and even fewer have witnessed with their lives left intact.

What is the key difference between these forbidden magicks—sometimes called _dark magicks_—and the ones discussed previously? Unlike other magicks, which draw their power from what I have dubbed _the Shield Effect_, dark magic is of a sinister origin and is fueled by pure _lifeforce energy_. It is used only to destroy and never to protect. Terrible chaos and incomprehensible suffering is wrought by the conjurors of such magicks, for what bounds do they know when life has lost all sanctity?

Only one who has sacrificed the unspeakable can obtain mastery over such magicks. It is not granted by the heart of all worlds, it cannot be learned from any book, nor is it bestowed to one at birth. The only way to acquire talent in the dark arts is to become apprentice to one already proficient in this deadly skill.

Dark magicks derive their potency from a heart wicked enough to tame the darkness, yet still full of enough light so as to maintain autonomy and evade the fate of the Heartless. The presence of this light does not, however, suggest the possibility of converting allegiance from Darkness to Light. This is because one who chooses the path of the dark magician sacrifices the soul in satanic ceremony in exchange for the power to wield these magicks.

An instrument of birth that is oft overlooked is that of _fire._ Fire, in ancient tradition, is a means by which to purify and sanctify. It alone is capable of purging sin. Yet when once holy flames are poisoned by boundless hatred, greed, and envy, their radiance is forever lost.

Rebirth in true fire is a blessing, as attested by the phoenix that rises from the ashes to cry its tears of healing and good fortune. But to be scorched by the flames of the damned, rebirth is a cruel punishment. To live without a soul is to know nothing but pain for all eternity. The Light cannot touch the soulless, and if there is no Light, not even death can deliver one magically bound by the forbidden arts.

I am reminded of one particular excerpt written by the recluse sorcerer Yen Sid:

_All ye who turn to darkness, be forewarned: to walk the path of the Dark Sorcerer is to die a thousand deaths with each breath, to bleed a thousand pints with each step, and to slay a thousand kinsmen with each spell._

_The Gatekeeper cannot judge him; the Source cannot admit him; the Light cannot bless him. The Dark Sorcerer is truly alone and forsaken._

I can only but wonder how such a wretched being would choose to live.

_- Gaspar's Report #11_

* * *

In the desolate wasteland of Hollow Bastion far outside the castle boundaries, a whale of a cargo ship landed in the canyon. When the hatch opened and the bridge extended, a nine-foot tall headless Heartless with the torso of a bodybuilder stomped out and cracked a whip. Cries and whimpers echoed from the cargo hold and again the Heartless cracked the whip, this time striking against a surface within the ship. The whimpers transformed into panicked screams and a line of people came marching out onto the bridge.

The people exiting the ship were of all sizes and ages. Tattered clothing wrapped around their bloodied and battered bodies, many bruised and disfigured. They trudged into the canyon single-file at the crack of the whip, all hunched over from the weight of the shackles around their heads and arms. Scattered debris littered their path, and millions of yellow eyes peeked out to follow the enslaved mob as it continued its death march.

Soon, the line of captives reached a large, circular structure like an amphitheatre. It stood just outside the vicinity of the castle with two, large stone gargoyles guarding the entrance. A murder of Heartless crows roosted all along the many grooves carved into the outside structure, eying the slaves as they shuffled into the amphitheater.

The Heartless cracked its whip to goad the crowd until every last person was stuffed and squeezed into the structure. A murmur of panicked voices waved over the crowd, but all fell silent when a dark shadow loomed overhead. In a burst of green light, Maleficent appeared on the raised pedestal against the wall farthest from the entrance.

Her beady eyes narrowed as she studied the captives. With a crazed cackle, she gestured to the headless Heartless, who at once marched out of the amphitheatre and closed the solid steel door behind him. Raising her magic staff high into the air, Maleficent began reciting a complex incantation. Mass panic ensued below her as the mortified masses pushed, clawed, and rammed each other in vain effort to reach the barricaded exit, and the witch would have cackled some more at the humans' pathetic attempt to flee if not for the need to completing the spell.

The sickly green orb at the head of her staff emitted an eerie light as the witch released her grip and allowed the staff to levitated over the crowd. Another flash of green light filled the amphitheatre, blinding the howling captives.

When the light died, so did the screams. Where there once stood flesh and blood men, women, and children now stood lifeless skeletons. The staff returned to its master's clutch, and the witch cackled. She grabbed the tail of her black cloak and wrapped it around her front, disappearing into its blackness and taking flight for the castle.

The gust of wind that followed her blew over the statue-like skeletons, crumbling them into dust. The shackles fell into the heaps of ash where the shadows streamed in to prepare for the next batch of sacrifices.

* * *

In the highest tower of Hollow Bastion castle was the chapel. A room decorated with stained glass and archaic masonry, the chapel once served as public place for peaceful rest, prayer, and contemplation. Though the gods, prophets, and icons denizens once worshipped changed with the times, the tower always opened its doors for those seeking sanctuary.

With the fall of the kingdom, however, the chapel took on a new role. Gone were the stained glass images of landscapes and archaic saints, once appreciated for their artistic beauty. Now but one symbol filled the dome and windows: a heart chained in thorns, _the Heartless emblem._

The Order of Thanatos made the chapel their main center of operations. Where the pulpit once stood holding a holy book now rested Maleficent's black cauldron, which she used for many a spell. In the center of the room sat a large, round table where the Order frequently met to strategize. A large map of the universe spread across the table with varied colored markings around different worlds, as well as plastic figurines of ships, Heartless, and Order members placed in tactical locales.

Many members of the Order had gathered around the table awaiting Maleficent's arrival: Oogie Boogie, a plump, animated sack of bugs with a penchant for high stakes gambling; King Baron, an iron-fisted ruler with a pale, pointed face and a short, brown beard; Yzma, a slender, violet-skinned woman proficient in alchemy; Hades, the flaming blue god of the Underworld; the big-headed, tiny-framed Queen of Hearts with a nasty temper and undying urge to behead her foes; Jafar, a stodgy and cunning vizier with a twisted goatee and mesmerizing snake staff; the evil sea witch Ursula, who had the legs of an octopus and the cunning of a shark; Galenth Dysely, an older man dressed in royal purple and holy gold, with long fingernails and sharp, fang-like teeth; Vayne Solidor, a ruthless and devious dictator dressed in suave apparel; and Kuja, a flamboyant, effeminate man with a love for waxing poetic before killing his prey.

The ten members filled the chapel with bickering and long-winded rants, the word "Keyblade" popping up every so often. The news of Captain Hook's blunder reached them through Maleficent, and they each raced to Hollow Bastion for the mandatory meeting to decide the Order's next move.

"This is all your fault, Hades!" shouted Yzma, pointing her thin, skeleton-like finger at the god. "All because you couldn't squeeze the goods out of those three twisted sisters!"

"Hey, hey! Mind those sagging lips of yours!" Hades leaned in close to her and muttered through gritted teeth, "The Fates can see and hear you _right now_. You don't want to get those…_darling_ little dears upset, do you?" He backed away and cleared his throat to speak in an unnaturally loud voice directed at no one in the room. "She's just kidding! It's her time of the month, you know—of course you know, you're omniscient. And omnibenevolent too. _Very_ omnibenevolent."

"I'd say that campfire on your head's left your brain a little too well-done," sneered the Queen of Hearts. "Honestly, trusting those three to soothsay the Keyblade's location! Ha!"

Hades scowled. "Well I didn't exactly see a big fat X to mark the spot on that Oraculum of yours!"

"The Oraculum only foretells the future of _Underland_, not of some backwater island in the garbage cluster!"

"Both of you cease your whining!" King Baron slammed his fist into the table. "We all know Hook is the fool responsible for this mess. The Keyblade was within his reach and he allowed it to slip from under him!"

"I say we reeducate the good captain on the meaning of _keelhaul_ upon his return," said Jafar, stroking his beard.

Oogie rolled his dice onto the table and laughed maniacally at the numbers. "Ooohhh…! Let's ship him off to the dungeons for a good 'ol fashion trip to the iron maiden!"

They continued to argue and debate Hook's fate until the doors to the cathedral flew open, heralding Maleficent's return. She walked into the room accompanied by a scraggly-bearded man dressed in worn, ragged clothing whose most prominent feature was the large, pompous plumed hat resting upon his crown.

"You are all no doubt questioning Captain Hook's competence and ability to continue serving our cause," said Maleficent as she neared the table. "His failure in acquiring the Keyblade will not be tolerated. From this moment forth, I appoint _this_ man to replace Hook as the commander of our Heartless navy."

"Good evenin', gents," the man said with a bow, taking off his plumed hat. "The name's Barbossa, captain of the Black Pearl—the fastest ship ever to sail the seven galaxies. I be pleased to offer the Order with the finest of me services."

A round of hushed murmurings circled around the table as the Order considered the addition to their ranks. Yzma gave the captain the eye, while Kuja stifled a laugh when scrutinizing the pirate's apparel.

"Hey, handsome—you do any tricks?" chortled Ursula. "Our last navy captain could make the Keyblade disappear off radar!"

"If it's tricks ye be wantin', I've got one to frighten the ink out your every orifice." Barbossa replaced his hat and turned to Maleficent. "Dare I ask ye for some assistance? The moon's glow will show me for what I am, but alas, it doesn't dare shine upon this forsaken place."

"Of course." Maleficent raised her staff and chanted a spell. A beam of light shot out of the green orb, bathing the captain in its light and everyone watched as Barbossa's flesh melted into bone.

"I be a very hard man to kill," he said in Ursula's direction.

The sea witch's huge, red lips stretched into a sinister smile. "Well he's got my vote."

"But what of the Keyblade's present status?" asked Vayne. "Are you proposing to send this man to complete Hook's unfinished task?" He waved his white-gloved hand and scoffed. "I hardly need to remind you that a fleet of ships has already failed to capture the Key and its wielder. We needn't waste more resources on such a flawed strategy."

"I share in your sentiments," Maleficent replied. With a wave of her staff, the moonlight vanished and Barbossa returned to his fleshy, human form. "Captain Barbossa will head increased patrols and tighten the security around the castle."

"Surely you do not believe the Keyblade master will breach our defenses?"

"It is merely a precaution. The Keyblade 'master' as you call him is nothing but a boy—a _child_. He poses no considerable threat to our master plan."

"Then you propose we pay him no mind?" asked Dysley. He slowly interlaced his fingers, careful so as not to claw himself with his long, yellow nails. "That simply won't do, my dear. Should he hinder the deliberate flow we've worked so hard to create, the consequences will be dire."

"Perish the thought," replied Maleficent. "The Keybearer is but an annoying insect buzzing about our affairs. With the Heartless occupying his attention, he will never suspect the nature of our true goal. He will remain blissfully unaware until it's too late."

"While that sounds comforting, your words alone don't guarantee a favorable outcome," Kuja noted. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say we need to devise a plan to deal with the Keybearer now before he becomes too meddlesome."

"I agree," Yzma added. "We've come this far believing the Keyblade a defunct relic! A weapon like that could mess things up royally if we let it."

"Perhaps I can make a suggestion?" said the new captain. Everyone turned to look at Barbossa. "From what I be understandin', the Keyblade wielder has evaded your Captain Hook. Since we don't know where in the vast sea of space he could be hidin', we should wait for the Heartless to spot 'im and then we tail 'im for an ambush!"

Oogie rolled his dice and let out a giddy laugh. "_Snake eyes_! Just like when we captured that mousey king of theirs!"

"Ah, yes. The sorcerer's apprentice," Vayne mused. "We did well to finally remove him via a similar strategy. Perhaps this plan of Barbossa's is worth considering."

Hades smacked his forehead. "Whoa, whoa—are you kidding? You mean to tell me that you'll listen to some sack of bugs' pathological gambling tendencies over the future divined by the Fates?"

"Oh not this again," the Queen of Hearts huffed. "Spare us the inane babblings of—"

Hades had slapped his hand over the Queen's mouth before she could badmouth the Fates. "How many times do I have to tell you people?" he shouted, his blue flames turning red with fury. "_DO NOT SPEAK ILL OF THE THREE MOST BEAUTIFUL, DELICATE, MERCIFUL MOIRAE IN ALL THE WORLDS_! …Did I mention they're also kind and omnibenevolent?"

When she regained the ability to speak, the Queen exploded into a fit until Jafar entranced her with his staff. "Do continue, Hades," he said. "You are, after all, one of the main reasons we've come this far."

"Thank you! Someone who actually talks _sense_!"

"Why was I not informed of this new divination?" Maleficent asked in a cold voice.

"Hey, don't give me that look! I got the news just this morning after you summoned me," he explained. "I went to pay the little ladies a visit—bring 'em some flowers and baklava—when out of the goodness of their hearts they decided to share the most striking revelation with me. Apparently, there's some kind of _ἀσπίς_ around the kid."

"_Aspis_?"

"Yeah, you know—a shield."

Maleficent narrowed her eyes. "What _kind_ of shield?"

"You know what? Here—look at this…" Hades extended his arm towards the center of the table with his palm open and facing up. A ball of pale light appeared in his hand and it grew larger and larger, spreading out to form a rough rectangular shape. Inside the rectangle, a holographic image of Hades' meeting with the Fates projected like a film for all to see. They stood in the dark depths of Underworld: Hades with a bouquet of flowers and a small parcel in his hands, and the three Fates— Lachesis, the tall and skinny one who had a spider dangling out of her long, crooked nose; Atropos, the round and plump one with a singular eye socket; and Clotho, the one of average size with little green snakes for hair—stood expecting him while passing around their only eyeball, each jamming it into one of their eye sockets before another could pluck it out and try it on.

The scene unfolded in Ancient Greek, of which no one in the Order aside from Hades could understand.

"Although I love studying plays in their original language, I would like to hear this one recited in the vernacular," Kuja quipped.

With a snarl, Hades closed his hand and reopened it, starting the scene from the beginning.

"Hello, ladies! How are my favorite soothsayers of destiny doing today?" projection Hades said with a corny grin. "I've brought you some—"

"Dead flowers and baklava," the three Fates said in unison. "We know."

"_I know_ you know," groaned the god. "It's just a gesture of goodwill." He handed the gifts to the Fates, who merely stared at it with the one eyeball. "What's the matter, you don't like—"

"Oh, we like them fair enough," said Lachesis, as she snatched the eyeball and jammed it in her left socket.

"But you know, Hades, gifts will get you nowhere," said Atropos, with a jab to Lachesis's gut.

The eyeball shot out into the air where Clotho caught it. "We've already told you how to usurp Zeus," she said while fitting in the eyeball, "and how to attain the powers of Thanatos, _and_ where to find the Keyblade master the moment he attains his birthright."

"Ladies, ladies—come on! Just one more teensy-weensy little favor! See, I just learned about—"

"Captain Hook's failure," they said in unison. "We know."

Hades ground his teeth. "_I know_ you know! Okay? I know! But about the Keyblade—if you could just tell me some more about the kid wielding it, you'd be doing me a big favor. See, we were too late in capturing him and now—"

"He's disappeared and you haven't a clue as to where. _We know_!"

Hades exploded in fury as red flames roared from his body. "_I KNOW YOU KNOW_!" He heaved and gasped long breaths until he cooled down and composed himself. "Ladies, please. One last time—for _me_!" He batted his eyelashes and smiled crookedly. "Come on, whaddya say?"

"We're not supposed to reveal the future," said Lachesis, making another grab for the eyeball. "Three times is three too many!"

"Oh, come on! What's a couple few divinations between friends, eh?" said Hades, his voice sweetening with every syllable. He took a step closer to Atropos and feigned shock. "My goodness! Have you lost weight? No more dieting for you, huh? The pounds just melt off that scaly body of yours!"

Atropos giggled like a schoolgirl, twirling her snake-like hair. "Oh, stop it!" she said with a bashful wave of her hand.

"I'm serious!" Hades shoved the box of baklava in her face. "I bet you could eat this entire box and—"

"_Hades_!" Maleficent shouted over the ongoing projection. "Do not waste our time with your petty flattery! Show us the prophecy!"

"Sheesh, tough crowd," Hades mumbled as he fast-forwarded the playback. He stopped when the Fates suspended their eyeball in the air and summoned forth their prediction.

_The location of the Keyblader is not cause for alarm_  
_You will devise a scheme that will rend him unarmed_

_When you and your ilk imprison the hearts of the chosen_  
_The Keyblader will fall and his heart will be frozen_

_But be forewarned, Hades: for you this tale bodes ill_  
_Strike when the shield is strongest, and it will retaliate to kill_

_With shield guarding the path, the forgotten prince will rise_  
_And all the Order has done will crumble before your eyes_

_The warrior marked by the sun will awaken in one year's time _  
_With Keyblade in hand, he will rise and undo your crime!_

The eyeball fell back into the Fates' hands when Hades jumped up in panic.

"Wait, wait! Just one more—"

"We know!" they shouted in unison, annoyed by Hades' persistence. "You want to learn about the shield."

Hades swallowed his anger. "Yes. Please."

Again the Fates released their eyeball to levitate in the air, and again they shared their prophecy.

_There is a man with a dozen lives in his chest_  
_Who follows Apollo on his every quest_

_But when the warlock committed the greatest sin_  
_This man's death sentence did at once begin_

_Judgment befell him, hindered and left incomplete_  
_Doomed for eternity, his life will repeat_

_Withered and insane, this man has been broken_  
_Until the day comes when the ritual is spoken_

_The shield has been born of a mutual desire_  
_And Kingdom Hearts blessed it with a holy fire_

_While shield is within the Keyblader's hand_  
_There is naught an attack he can't withstand_

_But a day will come when the shield is too cracked to defend_  
_Attack the Keyblader then and you shall ascend_

_Now hark an ear, Hades, and make no mistake_  
_Strike when the shield is strongest, and it is you who will break!_

When the eyeball fell this time, the Fates caught it and teleported out of the Underworld with a bout of laughter, leaving Hades and the rest of the Order to mull over the meaning behind their words.

"Well that was about as clear as mud!" exclaimed the Queen of Hearts.

Kuja snickered. "It sounds like you're in for a rough patch, Hades."

"So wait, this shield is actually some guy?" Oogie questioned while scratching his head. "Or is the man they jabbered on about the guy holding the shield?"

Vayne crossed his arms. "Hades."

The god of the underworld narrowed his eyes. "What is it, mop-top?"

"Correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't Apollo one of your kin?"

"God of Light," Hades grumbled. "All that sunshine and good health hoo-hah. What about him?"

"God of _Light_ you say? I'm curious to know how he is involved in all this."

"Like I know! If you hadn't noticed, the Fates were extra vague in giving their prophecies this time 'round."

"Well maybe you should've buttered them up a bit more," Yzma snapped. "The only thing we learned from watching that little film of yours is that those three hags—"

Hades erupted into red flames. "_DO YOU WANT THEM TO CUT YOUR THREAD? NO? THEN SHUT UP!_"

Kuja cackled. "Oh please. Don't pretend to care about that withered peacock woman; you're only looking to preserve your standing with the soothsayers."

"Who are you calling _withered_?" Yzma seethed. "It'd better be those three, good for nothing—"

"STOP TALKING ABOUT THE FATES!" Hades boomed, his body raging with flames.

"_Silence_!" All eyes fell on Maleficent, whose usual pal green complexion grew a shade darker. "One thing is clear about these prophecies: they've done little to educate us on the boy's current whereabouts. Therefore, we have no choice but to wait for him to come to us. It is only a matter of time before he follows the Heartless trail to one of our domains, and there he will meet his demise."

"Yes, that plan makes the most sense," said Dysley, shooting a glare towards Hades. "We could have economized our time by deciding on that hours ago."

Hades clenched his fists and closed his eyes, counting to ten in his head as his bottled-up anger bubbled within him.

King Baron slammed his fist on the table. "I motion for a change of subject. There are other pressing matters to attend to, are there not?"

"Yes," Maleficent concurred. She waved her hand at Barbossa, who still stood at her side, and signaled him to leave before continuing. "I believe you have some news for us, Baron."

"Indeed I have," King Baron replied with a proud nod. He cleared his throat. "You are all aware that our plans cannot come to fruition without the _Perennial Texts_. Mere hours ago, one of my most trusted hands informed me that he has captured a rogue said to have laid hands upon and hidden these texts."

"I trust you've ordered him tortured?" said Jafar as if it were no big deal.

"What do you take me for? Of course I have! In fact, I'm experimenting a new technique on him with the help of Professor Ratigan." King Baron gave a wicked smile.

"Ah. I wondered about his absence from our table," said Vayne. "The professor was to aid me in a little experiment of my own."

"Well too bad! I got him first."

Vayne let out a dry laugh. "Is this a contest now?"

"You two can bicker on your own time!" said Ursula with a twirl of her tentacle, planning to smack them both if they persisted. "Get to the point, Baron! Did you get them or didn't you?"

"I _will_ get my hands on those texts, Ursula. Any hour now and they will be mine."

"_Ours_ you mean," Maleficent corrected.

King Baron went pink in the face. "But of course."

"Without the _Perennial Texts_, we cannot perform the ritual."

"You needn't worry; Highwind is my most ruthless hand. He is both reliable and effective. Teamed with Ratigan, the two are guaranteed results."

"They had better."

"What of the fleet of unmarked ships that spawned from Traverse Town?" asked Jafar. "Could it be we've found the rats' nest?"

"I will go personally to assess the status of that world," said Maleficent with a curl of her lip. "Ferreting out that foolish king's cohorts will serve as excellent practice for my new hunter."

"While on the subject of that pretty boy page of yours, has he done anything to earn his keep?" asked Ursula. "I wouldn't mind feeding him to my darling poopsies. It's been ever so long since they've tasted the flesh of a land dweller."

Maleficent gave the sea witch a cunning smile. "The boy has exceeded expectations. In fact, he has found one of the chosen in a world not too far from this castle."

Ursula laughed. "Well, well! So we've finally found another one! It's about time."

"After the meeting is adjourned, you may go to the Grand Hall and view the gallery."

"Well then, aside from fortifying ourselves against the Keyblade, we are to continue as planned?" asked Kuja.

Maleficent nodded. "We will continue as planned and deal with the Keyblade wielder when he chooses to resurface. When the _Perennial Texts_ are finally in our grasp, we can prepare for the ritual." She then tapped her staff against the ground. "Now unless anyone else has a matter to bring before the Order, I see no reason to prolong this meeting."

The Order fell into a hushed round of murmurs as Maleficent waited a moment to see whether anyone had something to add, but all seemed to be in accordance and silence once again filled the chapel. With another two taps of her staff, Maleficent adjourned the meeting and warped herself out of the tower, leaving the others to explode with bottled-up arguments as they moved towards the exit.

* * *

Far below the castle, hidden even deeper than the dungeons, Maleficent materialized and stalked along a long, narrow passage. The stone walls were cold and damp, and the only light came from the torches emitting green firelight spaced every few yards. Eventually, she arrived before an out of place cherry wood door. With three taps of her staff, the door opened for her and she stepped into a small study.

A fire crackled in the corner, enchanted so that it wouldn't need a proper fireplace. Several stacks of old, leather-bound books rested at the foot of an armchair set facing the fire. A large, rectangular desk rested on the opposite side of the room, half covered in books and half covered in beakers and flasks filled with various putrid liquids. In what little space remained, several skulls were lined with melting wax candles upon their crowns that emitted the same green light as the torches in the hallway.

"Have you brought me sustenance?" said a wheezy, frail voice. A man cloaked in dark indigo robes sat in the armchair, snapping his book closed upon Maleficent's entry.

"But of course."

The door closed behind Maleficent as she approached the man. With her staff extended, she touched its sickly green orb to the man's torso, where upon contact it shined with an ethereal glow. The lights in the room all dimmed, and a haunting cacophony of moans and howls swirled about the study. The frail man gasped, his bony hands clenching the arms of his chair tight as the orb grew brighter and brighter until all at once the phenomenon ceased.

The man coughed and waved the staff away. "What of the Keyblade?"

"Gone for now, but I doubt it will be long before it resurfaces."

"The Keyblade can sense the threat we pose to Kingdom Hearts. It has forced the slumbering fool to act." The man coughed again and expectorated a dark and foamy fluid into his hand. Maggots began to surface, and the man scraped his secretion into the fire with a torn parchment. "What of the boy? Does he meet our requirements?"

"I shall test him soon, but from what we know, there is little doubt he is the one."

The man let out a wheezy chuckle. "Yes… he is the one who opened the door. Foolish children, the lot of them." He coughed again. "I will require more sustenance in three day's time. Ten thousand should do."

"As you wish." Maleficent bowed and turned for the door, but the man held up his shriveled, bony hand.

"Hold—what of my chronicles?"

"We've a lead on the_ Perennial Texts_. Perhaps your logs are in a similar territory?"

"Doubtful; those texts were written by _that man_. Ergo they must be enchanted to repel the likes of my ilk."

"Very well. I shall increase the search by tenfold."

"See that you do." The man waved his hand, signaling Maleficent to depart.

The evil witch stepped out of the study and walked a distance before teleporting herself back into the castle proper. Meanwhile, the decrepit man hacked up another black, foamy lump of maggots before reopening his book, one entitled: _A Study of Deities and Immortality _by Gaspar the Sage.

* * *

A/N: The first two paragraphs of Gaspar's Report might be confusing because he's referencing report #10. Gaspar had intended for them to be read one right after the other, but because I'm giving you fractured information that only pertains to this chapter, you'll have to wait to read up on what the _Shield Effect_ is in a later chapter.

I had planned to include Riku in this chapter, but I changed gears at the last minute since I didn't want to weigh the chapter down by dividing readers' attention between the core Order and Riku. So at present I'm leaning towards devoting a whole chapter to exploring his character.

Characters you may not know:

Yzma – _The Emperor's New Groove_

Queen of Hearts/Red Queen – _Alice in Wonderland 2010_

Galenth Dysley – _Final Fantasy XIII_

Vayne Solidor – _Final Fantasy XII_

Kuja – _Final Fantasy IX_

The Fates – _Hercules_

King Baron's based on the _Final Fantasy IV_ character known as _King of Baron_. The canon character's name is never specified, so I figured I'd just call him Baron for the heck of it.

The other members of the Order you should be familiar with since they're canonically villains you fight in the games.

Just one more note: Poetry is no easy discipline. I apologize if it sounds like I'm honking my own horn, but I really have to give myself a pat on the back for coming up with those rhyming divinations. They worked out so perfectly…it's just amazing. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Feel free to hypothesize over their meanings. Maybe even bookmark this chapter to reference the couplets later. It'd be fun to see what you can piece together. You can always drop me a line if you want to hypothesize. It's also worth noting that some of the stuff mentioned in this chapter was first mentioned in Ch. 6.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

In the dead of night under the glow of the blood red moon, a soul-shattering explosion wailed across the whole of China. Villagers, travelers, and soldiers alike gazed with quivering eyes towards the thundering horizon. Even the dead quaked in their graves as the shock rippled through the earth. Then, all at once, the world ceased to shudder, and a chilling silence fell as prelude to the terrors yet to come.

An insatiable darkness bled through the injured Great Wall heralded by an army of wild warriors. With savage reflexes, they slaughtered all the guards patrolling the perimeter save for one. Standing firm with sword raised, the lone soldier prepared to parry any oncoming blows, but the warriors merely cackled and jeered at his foolhardy courage. As they closed in on him with their bloodthirsty swords, he backed away and edged himself towards to the guard station where an oil lamp hung in the archway.

"No escape, no escape! Hee-hee-hee!" said the front-most warrior in a deranged voice. His whole body twitched and trembled, savoring the moment before he let out a primal howl and charged with his sword extended.

The guard swerved his body, sacrificing his fighting arm to the attack while his free hand made a grab for the lamp. He wretched free of the psychotic warrior, enemy sword still imbedded within him as he smashed the lamp into a large heap of kindling piled in the center of the guard station. Flames erupted to light the whole station, and within seconds, another fire appeared in the distance, followed by another until fire lined the Great Wall and circled the whole world.

"Now, all of China knows you're here," said the ailing guard as he yanked the foreign sword out of his arm and turned to face the pack of barbarians.

"Good."

The pack parted, giving way to their leader. Shan Yu stalked out from behind the mob, his black, beady eyes fixed on the lone soldier. With a devilish smile, he lunged forward and the guard fell dead at his feet.

* * *

Aboard the _G.S. Kingdom_, Sora had long shaken the drowsiness induced by Donald's enchanted sweets as he stared out the ship in wonder. Though Donald and Goofy found the many asteroids and intergalactic rings a bothersome chore to navigate past, Sora was in awe of the bright colors and odd shapes found floating around the sea of space.

"Hey, guys? Why are there hula-hoops in outer space?" he asked.

"Beats me," Donald quacked. "All I know is Chip better not've skimped on the undercoating this time, or else we're in for some major turbulence if we get much closer." He eased the joystick up a bit before jerking it violently to the side. "Heartless at three o'clock!"

"Roger!" Goofy took aim with the main gun and shot down the advancing ships as they zoomed closer. "Hmm… I think I got 'em all, ahyuck!"

Just then, the ship rumbled as a Heartless cruiser attacked from the rear and looped around for a second assault.

"Must've spoke too soon…"

While Donald and Goofy evaded and countered the lone cruiser, Sora turned to where Axel was sitting. "How are you holding up back there?" he asked.

"Just _peachy_," he grumbled. Since the _Kingdom_ was a small ship, it didn't have enough room for all of them to sit in the cockpit. Donald tried to use the size constrictions to get Axel booted off the ship until Goofy offered up the luggage closet as a seat.

"He can sit on my suitcase and we'll buckle 'im in with some spare rope! Pretty smart, don'tcha think?" he had said. But of course, Donald thought it was the stupidest idea in the world, and for once, Axel agreed with him.

With half of his body inside the closet and his long legs jutting into the cockpit, Axel sat on Goofy's lumpy luggage while the ship jerked up, down, and all around. The makeshift seatbelt did little more than give him rope burn across the face as his body moved with the undulations of the ship.

"Are you sure you don't want to switch?"

"Better me than you, kid," Axel replied as if he were on a wagon rolling down a rocky hill. The ship took a dive as Donald tried to barrel free of a Heartless attack, and Axel nearly bit off his tongue. He burned with rage, clenching his fists and staring daggers at the dumbbell duck in the pilot's seat.

"Mind your temper, Axel," Jiminy whispered in his ear. "Think calm thoughts. Calm…calm…"

Axel grunted and resolved to say no more until they landed.

After a few more agonizing minutes of streaking across space in wild directions and abrupt turns, it was smooth sailing for the ship.

"There! No more trouble for us!"

"_No more trouble, eh? Oh, I'll give you _plenty_ of trouble!"_

Donald jumped in his seat at the sound of the abrupt, gruff voice. "Who said that?"

"Hey, is that you, Cid?" Goofy asked.

"_Of course it's me, you crazy pinheads! Why the heck didn't you tell me you were leaving?"_ Cid shouted through the radio.

"It was all kinda spur-of-the moment really," said Goofy. "We didn't mean any harm by it."

"_Blab, blab, blab! Look, kids: if you don't want to get yourselves blown to bits out there you've got to let your Head Engineer in on all your big intergalactic traveling decisions! Otherwise you could wind up with a sludged engine, burned out verniers, and half-combusted stabilizers!"_

"Gawrsh, we're sorry…"

"_Not as sorry as you're gonna be if you don't watch out for those rings! Joystick up! _UP_!"_

"Wha-oh!" Donald threw all his weight into the joystick, quickly pulling the ship up before it could ram into the lower portion of a space ring. He let out a nervous laugh and apologized.

"_I swear…if I didn't have the foresight to install some remote monitoring software, you'd all be space debris by now!"_

"Hey, about those rings," said Sora, "what are they, exactly?"

"_Remnants of the old barriers as far as we can figure."_

"Old barriers?"

"_Traveling freely between worlds wasn't always possible. When the Heartless came, they destroyed the protective barriers surrounding each world. The rings, blocks, and other oddly shaped debris you see out there used to keep the worlds isolated from each other."_

"Even the asteroids?"

"_No."_ There was a small pause and Cid's voice darkened. _"Asteroids are the remnants of dead worlds."_

The roar of the engine filled the cockpit as it continued to tug along its muted crew. Sora turned his downcast gaze to his lap while Donald and Goofy focused extra hard on their instruments. Meanwhile, Axel only half-heard the exchange as he continued thinking his calm thoughts: a holiday party with Donald roasting on an open fire.

"_Well anyway, if you kids need anything, give me a buzz. Judging by your trajectory, you're heading for China, yeah? You should be there shortly. Just make sure not to get too close to that world. Follow the guide markings installed in your GPS and beam down."_

"Ya mean we can't land?" Goofy asked.

"_Nope. China's a notorious blackout zone. Any tech that gets too close malfunctions and is as good as scrap. It's got something to do with the magnetic field the world's generating, but I'll be damned if I know what's causing it. It's a rare phenomenon to be sure. You'd best keep your ship as far away as you can."_

"The teleporter's probably dead by now," Donald grumbled as he reached over towards the glove compartment and tossed Goofy a small remote along with a pack of batteries.

"Will this even work in the blackout zone?" Goofy wondered.

"_What, the teleporter? It's augmented with an anti-jagd stone developed by the good doctor. May run on batteries, but it's all magic all the way. You should be fine. Besides, Paine tested one out around there not too long ago. May not be jadg causing the interference, but the stone works."  
_

"I sure hope so."

"_Oh, and one more thing: when you land, you're to make contact with our liaison. Guy goes by the name Xiao Gen. He'll get you up to speed with the situation down there."_

"Ya can count on us, Cid!" said Goofy as he snapped two batteries into the remote and slipped it into his pocket.

"_Get in touch when you're done. I'll be looking forward to your written report."_

The radio went dead, leaving Donald and Goofy to stare at each other in bewilderment.

"Did he say…"

"…written report?"

They both sighed and silently agreed to have Jiminy do it.

* * *

Two livid men were thrown at Shan Yu's feet. One kept his body rigid, fighting every impulse to cower away from the ruthless barbarian; the other trembled, but held fast onto his pride as he clasped the sword at his side.

"Look what we found sneaking around the bushes," chortled one of Shan Yu's men. "Imperial scouts."

Shan Yu grinned as he leaned towards the two scouts. "Congratulations, gentlemen. You've found the Hun army." He let out a dark laughter that the army echoed.

"The Emperor will stop you!" said the proud soldier.

"Stop me?" Shan Yu cackled. "He _invited me_. For generations, none of the clans have been able to breach your Emperor's wall. But where they have failed, I will prove my strength." He grabbed the two scouts and forced them to their feet. "Now go! Tell your Emperor to send his strongest armies so that I may crush them as I have crushed his wall!"

As Shan Yu watched the soldiers scramble away to escape with their lives, he leaned towards his closest archer. "How many men does it take to deliver a message?"

With a sadistic smirk, the archer aimed his arrow. "One."

* * *

From the moment Sora's foot touched ground, yellow eyes followed his every move. Out of the shadows sprang the Heartless accompanied by savage war cries and arrows that rained from the sky. A squad of Huns that had broken off from the main army greeted Sora's team as a village burned in the background. Smoke filled the forest and the cries of the dying were drowned out by the sound of metal striking against metal.

The Keyblade met with the Huns' jagged broadswords as Goofy's shield spun around like a Frisbee deflecting stray arrows. But the two could do little to combat against the ferocious swordplay and archery of their foes. Sora found himself on the defensive without a single clear chance to retaliate. When Goofy caught his shield on the rebound, he regretted not scrounging together more cash to purchase a heavier one; his shield returned to him punctured and riddled with arrows.

Donald's magic didn't fair any better. Despite his wide array of powerful spells, his skills as a magician meant little when he couldn't hit his mark. The Huns took advantage of their jungle surrounding, lashing out from the bamboo thickets to strike when the mage was most vulnerable. Lightning and ice all missed their marks, and the fireballs only added to the region's predicament. The bamboo surrounding Donald caught fire, trapping him within a ring of destruction cast by his own hand. The Huns let out a wild bout of mocking laughter as the arrows they shot picked up the flames and augmented their deadliness.

All the while, Axel sped past the team trying to reach the village and get the flames under control. But the fallen had already joined the ranks of the Heartless. The pain and fear wrought by their senseless murders, as well as the envy they felt for those still living swirled within the fading villagers until their hearts were encased within centaur-like monsters.

The new and powerful Heartless charged towards Axel with spears extended, nearly skewering him if not for his agile reflexes. He leaped out of the way and spun around to shoot his chakrams at their exposed rears. Not missing a beat, he sped towards them like a torpedo before they could shake off their daze, and scorched them with flames hot enough to melt the hearts right out of their humanoid chests.

"Two down," Axel muttered as he stopped to catch his breath. He then turned around to again head towards the village and scoffed at the sight before him. "…Twelve more to go."

A dozen more centaur Heartless cantered out of the smoky thicket, picking up speed and raising their weapons when they spotted Axel. It was all he could do to keep himself from getting hit let alone retaliate.

"This is really bad," he thought while dodging three spears and a pair of hooves. The Heartless galloped freely between the bushes and bamboo, zooming in and out of sight as they charged circles around their prey. "If I set this place on fire, it might get too out of control and reach Sora. But if I don't make a move soon, these guys'll trample me!"

A Heartless rammed into Axel, knocking all the wind out of him and sending him smack into the belly of another centaur. The spear came down, and Axel kicked his leg up as high as it would go, forcing the spear at an angle to slice into the nearest Heartless. He then kicked up his second leg, taking the spear between his feet and yanking it forwards out of the centaur's grasp. Now unarmed and hopping mad, the centaur got up on its hind legs to smash its full weight down on Axel.

But Axel was too quick.

He sliced his chakrams clean into the centaur then dodged an oncoming attack from two others. "Two more down," he thought as he slid past another barrage of spears. Before they could turn to follow him, he had already sent their hearts floating into the sky. "Four." Another centaur tried to charge him, and this time Axel jumped up and landed on its back. The Heartless bucked like a crazed bronco trying to toss him to no avail. Axel set the centaur on fire and led it towards three others before it relinquished its heart and faded. "Ten. Two more."

_You're forgetting something._

Axel suddenly stopped in the middle of the thicket, staring at nothing in particular as the centaurs watched and waited for the opportune moment to strike.

_In all your horse riding fun, you've forgotten the most important thing._

A faint crackling grew louder and louder until it surrounded Axel, forcing him to focus. The thicket was on fire, and nothing could stop the village flames from engulfing the forest. The centaurs galloped out from either end of the flaming bamboo like hell riders. Twirling their spears with wild fervor, they pincer-attacked Axel and struck him from both sides.

_Make the fire grow even more and it will save you._

Impaled both front and back, Axel lost the strength in his arms. His chakrams fell to the dirt as he gasped for air. The centaurs kicked him with their enflamed front legs, neighing and moaning in agony from the burning. The fire would devour them, but not before they devoured Axel.

_It will save you in more ways than one. Do it._

"I can't let the fire get to Sora," he started chanting in his head as a powerful gust of wind blew over the forest, spreading the flames even faster. "I can't let the fire get to Sora."

_The fire will heal you. Do it._

"I can't let the fire get to Sora."

The centaurs pushed their spears harder into Axel, and he let out a great howl.

_Explode! Burn them all! DO IT!_

"I can't…let the fire…_get to Sora_!"

_DO IT OR YOU'LL DIE!_

Axel could feel the piercing pain of the spears tearing through him, turning him into shish kabab. All the energy in his limbs drained so that he became nothing more than a limp doll caught between the two centaurs. His feet gave way, but he could no longer reach the ground. The centaurs kept him suspended, and with just a little more pressure…

"_AAaaaAaAArrRrrrGGGhhHhHh_!" Axel screamed his throat raw. The pain was maddening. On reflex, he focused all of his fire into his chest, preparing to unleash it in one fatal explosion. The fire would turn the forest and everyone in it to ash, but at least he would walk away healthier than ever.

_**DO IT!**_

"AXEL! Hang on!"

Jiminy sprang out from behind Axel's ear and landed on a centaur's helmet. He edged as close as he could to where the helmet met the infinite black of the Heartless's head, and taking aim with his fountain pen, squirted ink straight into the centaur's yellow eyes. It howled in pain, lurching backwards and taking its spear with it. Just before it collapsed, Jiminy jumped to the other Heartless and did the same.

"Hurry, Axel! Fish out a potion and flee! Let's go! Move it! The fire's out of control!"

Axel didn't respond. While the centaurs flicked the ink from their eyes, Axel crawled towards the fire, inching himself into the roaring flames until his whole body burned.

Jiminy nearly had a heart attack. "AXEL!" he gasped, and scrambled to try and pull him out by the shoelace. But of course, as a tiny cricket, he didn't have the muscle for it. "How could you _do_ such a thing? How could you give up so easily!"

With eyesight renewed, the centaurs rose to their feet and aimed their flaming spears at Axel's motionless body. They snapped their arms forward, but their weapons disintegrated to ash before they could make contact. The fire ate the spears and then it ate the centaurs. When it had its fill, Axel ate the fire. He sucked all of the forest-ravaging flames into his body, closing his wounds and clearing his mind. Letting out a groan, he pushed himself from off the ground and got to his feet.

"That's one way to stop a fire," he quipped, picking his chakrams up and giving them a twirl.

Jiminy stared at him with wide, teary eyes. "Axel…what did you…?"

"Thanks for the distraction, Cricket. That was a close one."

"Did you _absorb_ the fire?"

"I sure did." Axel gave his unblemished stomach a hearty pat. "It made for a nice snack."

"And it's cured you!"

"That's how it works, Cricket."

"This is an astounding revelation!" Jiminy said as he tried to jot down some notes in his journal. But within a few seconds of writing, he scrunched his face and shot his pen a nasty look. "All out of ink! How do you like that?"

Axel opened his mouth to reply with a quick quip, but his words died in his throat as the familiar sound of Goofy's yelp echoed through the forest.

"No time for chronicling! We've gotta go find the others!" Jiminy jumped back onto Axel's shoulder and pointed towards Goofy's direction. "Step on it!"

While sprinting through the forest, Axel slashed through some lowly Shadows as he neared another patch of fire. He extended his hand, ready to draw the fire into himself when he heard a raving string of quacks sounding from beyond the wall of flame. "If I do this, I'll be saving _him_," he thought with disdain. "But I don't have much of a choice. This is getting ridiculous."

"What are you waiting for? Do the same thing you did earlier!" Jiminy urged. "This time I'll be watching with a careful eye." He pulled out a pair of spectacles and waited for Axel to work his magic.

As if taking in a deep breath of air, the palm of Axel's hand sucked all the nearby flames, saving Donald in the process. The Huns had long left the mage to roast, leaving behind a ground full of arrows that struck and scraped off chunks of his hind feathers.

"Why I oughta! Let me at those crazy archers! I'll—"

Another of Goofy's yelps cut Donald's tantrum off mid-sentence, and Axel sped off in its direction.

"Hey, wait for me!" Donald cried.

When they finally found Goofy, he and Sora were standing back-to-back surrounded by a mob of centaur Heartless. The two warriors had sustained heavy injuries trying to fend off the Huns, and Axel's countenance darkened as he realized the reason for their back-to-back stance; Sora was leaning on Goofy for support. Axel watched as the kid's knees trembled, and whenever they came close to buckling, his shoulders pressed harder into Goofy.

"I'm coming, Goofy!" Donald raised his staff, ready to charge the Heartless when Axel beat him to the punch. He flew past Donald and parted the ring of centaurs with his chakrams.

"Get him out of here!" he ordered. Without a word, the knight grabbed the ailing Keybearer and hauled him through the opening. The disarrayed Heartless grunted, swinging their spears in every direction; some galloped after Goofy while the others focused their fury on Axel.

"I've killed so many of you, I'm practically a pro now!" Axel shouted while dodging the multi-directional assaults. He leaped into the air, readying to fire his chakrams when a ghostly Heartless materialized behind him and slashed its sharp claws clean through his back. Stunned, Axel plummeted back to the ground where the centaurs kicked him around like a lifeless sack.

"No! Axel!" Sora tried to break away from Goofy, but the knight gripped his injured arm too tight. "Let me go! I have to help him!"

"Ya can't do anything for 'im in your condition!"

"But, Goofy—"

The knight shook his head. "No. Let Donald handle it." He nodded to Donald, who gave him the thumbs-up.

The royal wizard rolled up his sleeves and held his staff up high. "Now I'll teach you!" He started conjuring a mighty spell, but three new, pale blue ghosts appeared and surrounded him. "Uh-oh…"

Dressed in long, purple robes, the ghosts were the Heartless remnants of the local priests who had fallen with the village. They tapped into their spiritual strength and summoned deadly blue flames, launching them at Donald. He blocked most with a quick reflect spell, but a couple managed to hit him. The fire singed his feathers and blackened his bill, disorienting him long enough for the breakaway centaurs to home in on him. They galloped full-force towards the defenseless wizard, their bodies glowing bright red from the built-up momentum.

Just a few feet away, the lead centaur took aim with his spear only to trip over Goofy's arrow-ridden shield. The Heartless slid to the ground, toppling on its side and barring the path. With no reaction time to change course, the second centaur crashed into the first and collapsed atop it.

"Hurry, Donald!" Goofy called. "They won't be out for long!"

Donald coughed and wheezed, hacking up black smoke as he waddled up to the struggling centaurs and kicked them one for good measure. When one grunted and swung its spear, he yelped and scrambled away, grabbing Goofy shield as he ran past it.

"We still have to save Axel!" Sora cried.

"Forget him!" said the wheezy wizard. He sprinted past his friends, shoving the shield back into Goofy's clutch and grabbing Sora's spare arm. "Let's cut our losses and scram!" He started to yank the Keybearer away, and Sora could barely stand let alone resist. But Donald didn't get too far regardless. Goofy pried Sora free and hauled Donald back by the collar.

"A member of our team's getting beaten and ya want to abandon 'im? I don't think so, mister!" Grabbing the arrows with a firm hand, he yanked them out of his shield. It was warped and riddled with holes, and served as a poor instrument for defense, yet Goofy gripped it with all his might. "Take care of Sora," he said before running towards the Heartless mob with shield in front.

"No, Goofy! Don't do it! Don't throw away your life for a warlock!"

"He's _not_ a warlock; he's our friend." Sora twirled the Keyblade in his hand, forcing the edge to the ground. He used it for a makeshift crutch as he hobbled his way after Goofy. But he didn't make much progress when the collapsed centaurs flipped back onto their feet with the help of their ghostly compatriots. The Heartless hungered for the Keyblade master's heart, and it was ripe for the taking.

Ghouls swooped in to claw him and centaurs galloped strong to skewer him. With the Keyblade dragging along the dirt to support its wielder, it could do nothing to defend him. Sora braced himself for the onslaught. But instead of getting rammed by a centaur, he was tackled to the ground by Donald. Shielding Sora with his body, Donald craned his head back and held his staff high.

"Thunder!" he shouted, and lightning struck from the heavens. The flashing bolts startled the centaurs and blinded them, sending them into a frenzy. They swung their spears around wildly, whacking each other and the ghouls in the process. Peeved by the sudden betrayal, the ghouls countered with a barrage of fireballs.

While the Heartless flooded the field with friendly fire, Donald took advantage of their confusion. He rose to his feet and fished around his pockets. "I'm all out of magic and ethers," he said as he pulled out a small, dark green vile. "All I've got left is this Hi-potion. You'll probably still ache after taking it, but at least you can go and help Goofy."

Scrunching his blackened bill, Donald forked over his emergency reserves. After drinking the thick liquid, Sora felt the instantaneous healing effects coursing through his body and was no longer in need of a crutch. He swung his Keyblade up to rest on his shoulder and made to dash for the Heartless mob in the distance.

"I'm coming, guys!" he said, but then slid to a stop. A new gang of Heartless appeared to cut off his path.

* * *

The centaurs continued kicking Axel around as their plaything. Bruised and battered, he took each beating with a sweltering rage boiling within him. Kick to the jaw, kick to the gut, kick to the back and chest; he couldn't take it anymore. He forced his eyes open after a hoof rammed him upside the head, and saw and opening. "I'm being beaten," he seethed, "but a bunch of stupid horsy hybrids? I don't think so!" He let out an enraged battle cry and grabbed the closest hoof, shoving it up to block two others and rolling away amidst the chaos.

Once he cleared the centaur ring, however, the ghosts came to play. They swooped down like buzz saws, striking at Axel with their sharp claws and knocking him back against some stalks of blackened bamboo. "Why can't the dead just _stay_ dead?" Axel growled as he stared down the ghostly menaces. They swerved up to gain more momentum and then came spinning back to finish the job. When they got close enough, Axel jumped out of the way and grinned as they rammed smack into the bamboo. He summoned his chakrams from across the field, and in one false swoop, jerked around and let the ghosts have it.

The ghosts dissipated upon contact, but Axel couldn't even enjoy his victory. The centaurs returned in full force, twirling their spears and shaving off a few of Axel's hairs.

"Ghosts, horses; horses, ghosts. I just can't win, can I?" Axel prepared to attack when a Heartless bat hovered in front of him and screeched. "For the love of…!"

The sky went dark with the wings of many bats, lit only by pockets of blue flames as new ghouls materialized. The centaurs scraped their hooves against the dirt, readying their charge, and Axel? Well, he just laughed. "Oh, this is rich! They're tossing everything but the kitchen sink at me! Where the hell are all these Heartless _coming from_?"

"I've been thinking the same thing," Jiminy whispered. "I'm also wondering where those men from earlier ran off to…"

"You've got to be kidding me." Axel smacked his forehead. "That's our answer right there."

"What do you mean?"

"Those blood-lusting idiots practically put their hearts on a silver platter."

"You mean…_those_ are the feral warriors?" Jiminy exclaimed, pointing at the Heartless.

"Well there sure as heck weren't that many villagers, otherwise the fire would've been more expansive." Axel held up his chakrams, slipping into a fast defensive stance. "Here they come, Cricket."

"I wish I had more ink…"

"Yeah, I don't think that'd help much this time."

Hundreds of bats swirled through the air and flew down like a thick, black fog. They raced past Axel and pierced him with the little hooks dangling from their rears. But their strategy went downhill the moment Axel surrounded himself with a fiery aura. Every bat that touched him disintegrated, and soon, what was once a black sky turned bright pink with the massive collection of freed hearts.

"That was the easy part," Axel heaved as he threw himself out of the way of the centaur barrage. Close to twenty centaurs stampeded towards the enflamed warrior, thrashing their hooves and striking their spears. Axel made his body like water, fluidly dodging around each attack for a short while until his fatigue caught up with him. Soon, his reflexes became sloppy, and blow after blow connected with more and more fervor.

Three more ghosts flew down to ambush Axel just when he thought he had found an opening for attack. He was drowning in a sea of Heartless, and for every attempt he made to switch to the offensive, the Heartless made him see stars.

All the bamboo in the area had been flattened, and none of the other vegetation remained. That whole area populated by the centaurs turned into a cleared arena that liberated them to strike Axel as they pleased. But that didn't last. Goofy charged into the fray with his dented shield at the ready. He reflected a series of oncoming blue fireballs towards the centaurs, and then spun around like a wild top to ram them in their confusion.

"Get up quick!" he called to Axel, who didn't waste a second rebounding to his feet. "Just when ya think we've got these things beat, more keep showin' up!"

"You don't know the half of it…"

Goofy parried another round of fireballs and jumped out of the way of a spear.

"Draw their attention while I work my magic."

With a nod, Goofy tossed his shield to provoke the centaurs. He caught it as it bounced back and then sprinted far away from Axel with some of the centaurs on his tail. However, the bulk remained fixated on Axel. They raced towards him from varying directions, hoping to meet up and ram him in the middle. As he did with the ghouls, Axel waited for just the moment before jumping high to let the centaurs gallop right smack into each other. But they stopped just as Axel jumped, anticipating his repeat maneuver, and the second his feet left the ground, they hurtled their spears straight at him.

"What the…!" Axel didn't have time to brace himself.

From a distance, Goofy saw the spears fly and slid to a stop. Gripping the side of his shield tight like a Frisbee, he twirled himself around and around, and then let it fly. It sheered through the air with impeccable speed and whacked most of the spears away from Axel, leaving the others easy pickings for Axel to counter.

Before the shield could return to him, however, Goofy received a catastrophic blow to the head from a wayward pair of hooves. He went flying several feet away where he remained motionless on the ground.

The sight left Axel speechless and filled him with white-hot rage. He veered down with his chakrams extended and slashed through the defenseless centaurs, dodging the reinforcements. They gained on him as he sped towards Goofy, picking up the battered shield as he passed it. What was once the King's seal engraved in the center of the metal disc now bore too many holes, scrapings, and dents to be distinguishable. It was worn down and badly damaged, just like its wielder.

The herd of centaurs chased after Axel, some throwing their spears as they built up momentum. He had just enough time to reach Goofy and nudge him once before the mob was upon him. Jiminy jumped down to see to the fallen knight while Axel gripped the warped shield in fury. He strapped it high onto his arm so that it protected his shoulder and a fair portion of his head as he met the centaurs with heated eyes.

"You'll pay, horsemen. You'll pay!" Axel somersaulted away from a flurry of blue fire before countering with his chakrams. Two ghouls met their end, and the third materialized behind Axel only to get a spear in the back. Axel slid clear of the nearest centaur and ran behind it, deflecting another blow with his shielded arm before striking two centaurs down and parrying a third. On and on, Axel danced circles around the Heartless, and the shield made all the difference.

Eventually, a lone centaur remained. It homed in on Axel, speeding towards him with his spear spinning like a propeller. The swing radius was too high for Axel to jump, so he stood tall and loose, watching the twirl of the spear with careful eyes. Then, with a flick of his wrist, Axel shot one of his chakrams to divert the centaur's attention from his follow-up fireball attack. The fire burned the spear right out of the Heartless' clutch and Axel went in for the kill. Three slashes and the centaur relinquished its imprisoned heart.

Axel let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over. He relaxed his guard.

But another ghoul teleported behind him. Its robes appeared first, all nice and folded in thin air. Then, its body filled the fabric and raised itself with claws poised to puncture straight through Axel's chest.

By the time he could feel the ghost's presence, it was too late. Axel turned just enough to see its pale blue head before the Heartless exploded into a heart.

"What the…?" Axel looked down at his feet to see a shiny, round shield. He picked it up and then looked ahead to where Goofy sat up with his hand extended.

"Had a spare, ahyuck…"

Axel smiled. "You're something else, Goof. You know that?" He walked over to Goofy, helping him to his feet and forking over both shields.

The peaceful moment was short-lived, however. Just then, Sora came running into the clearing with Donald not too far behind, the latter screaming at the top of his lungs. A whole new stampede of centaurs tailed them with Neoshadows joining their ranks.

"Run!" Sora shouted.

Axel grabbed Goofy and the two dashed off side-by-side with the others. They rushed back into the forest, leaping over the thick vegetation as they fled their pursuers. Although the centaurs slowed due to the many new obstacles, the Neoshadows claimed an advantage. They melted back into the darkness and followed after Sora's team faster than ever.

"What are we going to do?" Sora fretted as he jumped over a large root and bounced off a couple of rocks.

"Just keep running and don't look back," Axel replied in a leveled voice.

The group ran long and far, ignoring their burning chests and aching muscles. Even though their bodies didn't give way, the path did. Everyone slid to a stop when they reached the edge of a cliff. Peering down to look below, Sora could see a faint reflection of the moon at the very bottom.

"I think there's a river down there."

"Tch." Axel grew tense. Yellow eyes polka dotted the forest as the shadows emerged from the darkness.

"We should jump," said Sora.

"Gawrsh, it sure is a long way down," Goofy remarked as he looked over the edge.

Donald strapped a bathing cap over his hat. "It's the only way! Let's go before they come any closer!"

The centaurs emerged, all of them glowing bright red and ready to unleash the full brunt of their stored momentum.

"I can't go," Axel said all of a sudden.

"All the better!" Donald gave a devious, little wave and prepared to dive off the cliff when Goofy grabbed his collar.

"You're not afraid of heights are you?" Sora asked.

Axel shook his head. "I can't stay submerged in water too long. Like ice, water drains the magical force running through my body. If that energy count reaches zero, I'm a gonner."

"But we can't stay here!"

Taking a deep breath, Axel turned to face Sora with steady eyes. "_You_ can't stay here," he corrected. "Go, Sora. An islander like you won't have any problems pulling this off."

"I'm not leaving you here."

"You have to."

"Axel, no…"

"You've got to go!" Axel's eyes shifted to meet Goofy's, and although the knight was pained to do so, he gave him a solemn nod.

Goofy grabbed Sora, and Donald gladly helped.

"Hey, what are you guys doing? Let me go!" Sora thrashed around, trying in vain to break free of his friends' grip. His fatigue hindered his actions and he was powerless to stop Donald and Goofy as they swung him over the edge. "No! Axel!" He tried to reach out and grab a hold of something, but he was too far out of the cliff. Axel's grieving face was the last thing he saw before plunging into the rushing, cold waters.

"Have fun with your progeny!" Donald quacked as he followed Sora and hit the river with a loud splash.

Goofy felt the color drain from his face. He didn't want to leave—he _couldn't_ leave.

"Hurry up, Goof! They're almost here!"

"Maybe I should—"

"What you should do is follow your King's orders!" Axel interjected. "Go and keep Sora safe for me."

"You're right," he said in a low, hoarse voice. "I'm really sorry, Axel…" Goofy walked over to the edge and bent his knees, ready to dive. But he paused for a moment. "Take this," he said, turning around once more and handing Axel the spare shield. "It'll keep ya safe."

Axel stared at the shiny disc for a second before pushing it back. "Use it to shield Sora."

"Then take this one." Goofy offered instead the battered shield.

"What—this piece of scrap? How can this thing protect anyone?"

"Ya never know. Heck, it protected ya back there, didn't it?"

Axel thought for a moment. "Huh, I guess it did." He accepted the shield and strapped it back onto his arm. "Be seeing you, Goof."

"I'm gonna hold ya to that." Goofy took one last, long look at Axel before turning around and diving off the cliff with a loud yelp that echoed all throughout the mountains.

Axel let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Well, Cricket; it's just you and me."

"And lucky for you, I've found a spare pen!" Jiminy chirped.

"Life's just full of spares, isn't it?" Axel laughed cynically.

"You did the right thing, Axel. I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, yeah. Save it for when I make it out of this alive."

Puddles of darkness stopped short of Axel as the Neoshadows sprang out and rained down with their claws at the ready. The stampede of centaurs thundered louder than any storm, quaking the whole of the mountain and causing chunks of rock to break off into the river. The Heartless were coming, and nothing could stop them.

* * *

A/N: Wow, over 100 reviews… When I first began _Broken Shield_, I couldn't have imagined so many people would enjoy it. I just want to take a moment and thank everyone who's been following and supporting my story thus far. Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful reviews. I truly appreciate the time you've taken to share your views and comments with me.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me. The way I see the world and the way the world works are two different things._

_What's reality? Is there such a thing as absolute reality—as absolute truth—or is the formation of reality dependent upon one's individual perspective?_

_I don't know the answers, but I wish I did. Maybe then I'd feel less crazy._

* * *

"Sora, wake up!"

Sora let out a lion-like yawn and stretched his little arms as he sat up in bed. "Wha'sa matter, Riku?"

It was early morning on Destiny Islands just before the sun broke over the horizon. Inside Sora's messy room amidst the action figures, bouncy balls, and toy swords, the two young friends had spent an eventful evening of laughter and play before their activity swept them off to dreamland. However, neither one endured a peaceful night's rest.

"You were doing it again," Riku said wearily.

"I was?"

"Uh-huh."

"M'sorry… I didn't mean to."

"You were crying this time, too."

Sora brushed his fingertips against his moistened cheeks before wiping them dry on his bed sheet. "Sorry…"

Riku waved it off with a sigh. "It's hard to sleep when you're talking so loud." He sat down on the bed and his small forehead wrinkled with worry as he studied Sora. "This is the third time. Are you sure you didn't have any dreams?"

"I don't remember any," Sora replied. He then paused for a while before asking: "What was I saying?"

Riku crossed his arms and made a sour face. "More weird stuff. I didn't get any of it."

"Oh."

"I wonder if you do it even when I'm not sleeping over."

"I dunno." Sora fisted his bed sheets and looked out the window to where the ocean glistened in the dawning light. "Maybe it's something I ate?"

"You didn't sneak ice cream without me, did you?"

Sora shook his head vehemently as if accused of a terrible crime. "No way! I'd never do that."

"Well, we ate the same stuff and I don't talk in my sleep. 'Least I don't think…"

The sun rose higher as the two friends sat lost in their thoughts. Warm light stalked its way up and through the windowsill until it crept into the room. Sora fixed his sights on the distant beach where he and Riku would go later to play. The dock looked lonely without any boats.

"Hey, Riku?"

Riku tried hard to suppress a yawn, readjusting himself to sit straighter. "Hmm?"

"Ever get the feeling…that someone's missing?"

"Missing? Whaddya mean?"

Still focusing his expectant gaze on the deserted beach, Sora tightened his grip on the sheets. "Yeah, like: someone should be here, but they're not."

"On the island?"

"With us."

"Oh. Not really. Why?"

Sora sighed. "I dunno…" He relaxed back into his pillow and pulled the covers over himself.

"What's wrong?" Riku nudged Sora's shoulder. "C'mon; I wanna help."

Sora buried his head into his pillow to hide his tearing eyes. "It just feels like I'm forgetting someone special, and it makes me really sad sometimes."

"Special? Like who?"

"I dunno. I forget…" Sora let out a shaky sigh as he wormed his way deeper into his covers until nothing stuck out but a few spikes of his hair. "Let's sleep s'more. I'm still tired," he said. Some time passed before he could feel Riku slip off the bed, and after some rustling, figured he was back in his sleeping bag.

Everything soon fell quiet; too quiet. Neither of them filled the room with their light snoring.

* * *

_They tell me this is real, but is it?_

_Where there should be one, there are many; where there should be Heaven, there is space; where there should be purity, there are Heartless. An invisible hand rests on my shoulder, but it belongs to no one. The hands on the clock don't move, yet the stream is in flux._

_These are things that I know to be true, but can't prove._

_What'll happen as my reality continues to clash with the world's?_

_I still think this is a dream._

_Will I ever wake up? Do I even want to wake up?_

_Maybe I'm better off crazy…_

* * *

"I don't think you're crazy."

* * *

Water sputtered out of Sora's mouth as he sprang up and coughed his lungs clean. He half expected to see Kairi kneeled next to him, but instead met face-to-face with a slender soldier. Unlike the wild barbarians from earlier, who clothed themselves with trophy furs of the mighty beats they've hunted in the north, this soldier donned armor and uniform that distinguished him as a potential friend. He lacked that feral look in his eyes, and his hair—tied up in a tight knot—wasn't greasy and scraggly like the Huns'. With caring hands, he steadied Sora while he coughed and calmed his breathing.

"Are you alright?" asked the soldier. "You almost drowned!"

"Huh…?" Water lodged in his ear impaired Sora's hearing. He tilted his head to the side and clapped the water out of his ear.

"I mean..." The soldier coughed and cleared his throat. "It's great manly fun almost drowning!" he said in a deeper, forced voice. "I myself do it once or twice every week."

"Well I didn't think it was great fun," Sora groaned. "Did you pull me out of the river?"

"You and those other two." The soldier pointed towards his black horse, which was tugging some warm blankets over Donald and Goofy with its mouth.

"Oh no! They're not…?"

"They're just unconscious," the soldier assured him. "You three must have a death wish—I mean, must love extreme sports! Swimming off that waterfall is the best kind of manly competition. Watch out Huns: the Waterfall Warriors are coming!" He let out a boisterous, artificial laugh.

"We went off a _waterfall_?" Sora almost shouted, his eyes widening. "I thought it was only a river!"

"The river feeds into the waterfall. Where did you jump from?"

"Near a village—well, what's left of it. Those wild men burned it to the ground, and the Heartless took care of the survivors."

"I see." The soldier paused to sketch a rough map into the dirt. "That means the Huns are still a good deal away from the capital. You've drifted a great deal downriver. But what do you mean when you say 'Heartless'?"

"You haven't had a run-in with them?"

The soldier shook his head, and Sora explained what he knew about the Heartless. "We were running from an army of them when we jumped into the river," he concluded with cheerless eyes. He drew his knees close to himself and sighed into them. "One of my friends stayed behind to face them."

"Why?"

"He didn't have much of a choice," Sora replied.

"If what you said is true," the soldier began with an idle rub of his chin, "then the Heartless are probably in league with the Huns. If that's the case, the Imperial Army may be able to help your friend."

Sora's eyes brightened. "Really?

The soldier nodded. "I'm reporting to an army encampment not too far from here. You can come with me and tell the soldiers there what you know."

"And then they could send reinforcements!" Sora jumped to his feet with an excited smile and raced over to Donald and Goofy. "Get up, guys!" He shook them awake.

After coughing up enough fish to fill a seafood platter, both Donald and Goofy were hauled to their feet by Sora's gung-ho grip.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Donald quacked as he smacked away Sora's hands.

"I found a way to help Axel! There's an army base not too far from here and—"

"_Army base_?"

"Yeah, and they can—"

"Finally, some decent backup!" Donald chucked aside his bathing cap and straightened his hat. Rolling up his sleeves and taking aim with his index fingers, he started pretend-shooting a pair of rifles into the air. "Forget the swords and shields—let's go commando on the Heartless and turn 'em into Swiss cheese!"

"Gawrsh, some military support would sure be swell right about now!" Goofy added as he strained his waterlogged pant legs.

"Let's get the air force and carpet bomb the forest! That'll teach those pesky Heartless who's boss!"

"_Bomb_ the forest?" Sora exclaimed. "What about survivors and the forest wildlife?"

"It's like my Uncle Scrooge always says: you want an omelet, you gotta pay someone to break some eggs and make it for you."

"But, Donald—"

"No buts!" the heated duck quacked. He took a quick glance around, his eyes only just brushing off the soldier as they homed in on the nearby horse. Not waiting for an invitation, Donald bounded onto the saddle and grabbed hold of the reigns. "Off to find our boys in uniform! Giddyap!"

The horse didn't budge.

"Are you deaf? I said: _Giddyap!_"

The horse grunted in response.

While Donald exploded into an unintelligible fit of rage, flailing his arms in the air as he bounced up and down the saddle, Goofy sighed and shook his head. "You'd think facing down an army of darkness would humble 'im a little…"

"He wouldn't _really_ bomb the forest would he?" Sora wondered with a worried crease deepening along his forehead.

"No need to fret; the soldiers'd never listen to him."

Sora shook his head. "I know that. What worries me is he might jump into a plane and do it himself. Unless…" He turned towards the soldier, who up until now had remained a quiet and passive onlooker. "Your army isn't equipped with missiles and bombers, is it?"

"E-excuse me…?" the baffled soldier replied. "I'm not familiar with those words."

"Wow, really? Maybe this world doesn't have them then." Sora breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hmm?" Goofy craned his head to see past Sora. "Golly, I didn't see you there!"

"Oh, right! Goofy, this is—um…" Sora let out a bashful chuckle. "Sorry, I never got your name."

The soldier went rigid. "It's Mu—uh, Ping."

"Right. Goofy, this is Muaping—"

"No, no!" Face flushed, the soldier frantically waved his hands. "My name is _Ping_," he corrected. "Just Ping."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'm Sora and this is Goofy—and Goofy, Ping is the one who pulled us out of the river."

"Please to meet ya, Ping!" Goofy said, tipping his hat. "Thanks for helpin' us."

"I couldn't just let you drown," Ping replied. "You were fortunate enough to get caught at a large rock before being swept away further downstream." He paused to glance at his horse, which had taken to lying down and yawning while Donald continued his tireless tirade. "Although I wish I had more…confining accommodations for you."

Goofy hung his head in shame. "Please excuse Donald. He's under a lot of stress."

"For all the wrong reasons!" Sora exclaimed. "Please, Ping; take us to the army camp right away. My friend's in danger!"

Ping gave a solemn nod. Placing two fingers in his mouth, he let out a loud whistle and his horse propped itself up at attention, flinging Donald off its back in the process.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Donald shouted after crashing into the dirt.

While Goofy tended to Donald, Ping attached a wooden cart to his horse. He cleared aside several bags of rice and jugs of milk, lining the splintery bottom of the cart with a blanket.

"You guys can ride back here," he said.

"Thanks, Ping. I owe you." Sora jumped into the cart.

"Let go of me—get your hands off! _Off!_" Donald quacked, resisting all of Goofy's attempts to calm him. He then stomped angrily over to the cart and stopped to give the horse the eye. "You big palooka!" He would have kicked the horse for good measure if the cart didn't obstruct his path.

Goofy waited patiently for Donald to fumble his way next to Sora, drooping his shoulders with the weight of added shame as his bosom buddy quacked and muttered incoherently after tumbling into the rice sacks and spilling rice all over himself.

After a round of apologies and a team effort of plucking each individual grain from Donald's feathers and stuffing them back into the sack, the gang was ready for departure. But when Ping signaled his horse to ride on, it wouldn't budge.

"What's the matter, Khan? Let's go!"

The horse grunted and shook its head.

"Why not?"

Khan huffed and nudged his head towards the bushes. Just beyond them was the faint sound of twigs snapping and flora rustling as someone approached from the beyond clearing.

"Is there something there that—oh no!" Ping quickly covered his mouth with one hand. "I forgot!"

"What's the hold up?" Donald quacked. "Get moving, you stupid horse!" He flicked a stray grain of rice at Khan, doing little more than earning a reprimanding glare from his companions.

Sora scooted closer towards Ping to inquire into the delay, but before he could get two words out, Ping had jumped off his horse. He didn't make it quick enough to the bushes, however. The leaves parted to give way to a tiny, red dragon hauling a pile of meat with its scaly arms.

"Okay, Mulan; I've managed to rustle you up some panda jerky!" the dragon declared, not paying the least bit of attention to his surroundings. He fingered a strip of jerky with his claws and waved it around like a hard-earned prize. "You wouldn't _believe_ what I went through to swipe these from those hapless campers! So c'mon, girl; let's get these hunks of meat shoved between your chompers and practice your man bites! Rrrgghh!" He stopped in front of Ping, who stood as stiff as a plank with lips tightly pursed. "What's the matter, girl—your cod piece chaffing you again?"

"Mushu,_ shh_!" Ping hissed through clenched teeth.

"_Girl_?" Sora jumped out of the cart, followed by Donald and Goofy. "What's he talking about?"

"Huh?" Mushu turned to see the others for the first time. With a girly shriek, he threw his arms into the air in alarm, sending the jerky flying in every direction. "I mean, uh…" He took a deep breath to compose himself and thrust his chest out with a darkening face. "I am the dragon spirit of the forest!" he boomed with claws outstretched. "Leave this hallowed place! Booooo…!"

Ping smacked his forehead. No one bought it.

"Come on! Scary, fire-breathing dragon here!" Mushu pressed. "Go on and run for your lives, already!"

"Who are you?" Sora asked. "And who's Mulan?"

"_Mulan_? There ain't no Mulan here! I don't even know what that is! Sounds like something a slack-jawed cow'd cough up with its cud. Now why don't you boys go on and skedaddle since there's nothing to see here?"

"I think I get it…" Goofy said as he peeled a strip of bacon off his snout. "You're pretendin' to be a boy, aren't ya?"

"U-um, well…" Ping averted his gaze.

"What? Really?" Sora's eyes went wide with awe. As the dawn's rising sun filled the forest with light, he took a keener look at Ping. Nothing at all hinted towards a feminine figure behind the armor, leaving Sora utterly baffled.

"Pfft! Now what kind of half-baked accusation is that? Ping here is the very definition of manliness!" Mushu proclaimed as he gave Ping's leg a hearty tap. "Honestly, a girl! How could you be so insulting? Why, if Ping weren't in such a hurry to single-handedly toss the Huns back over the Wall, I'd sic 'im on you right here and now! Then we'd see who'd be making the snide comments!" He stuck up his nose in a pompous fashion and tugged at Ping's leg. "Come on, Ping! Let's go."

But Ping wouldn't budge.

"Mushu, I can't. They need my help."

"The only kind of help they need is from a seeing-eye pony. Now let's shake a leg! Places to go, family honors to uphold! You know the drill."

"Wait, Ping!" Sora called. "Is what Goofy said true?"

"Heh, of course not!" Ping chuckled in his loud, forced voice. "A woman soldier is unheard of! Women can't fight; everyone knows that."

Sora shook his head. "That's not true. A couple of my newest friends are women fighters, and they've been protecting an entire town from Heartless invasion for years. Anyone who says women can't fight must not have seen many battles."

"You come from a village where women can fight alongside men?" Ping asked with wide eyes.

"Err…not exactly. Maybe we should start over. Hi, my name's Sora, and these are my friends—Donald and Goofy. We're part of an inter-galactic resistance movement against the Heartless and have come from another world to help you."

"Another _world_? Puh-_leeze_!" Mushu scoffed. "Now I know you've been drinking seawater. Hurry up and let's ditch these wonder clowns, Ping!"

"You're from…another world?" Ping echoed.

Sora nodded. "That's right."

"And women there do more than tend to their husbands and children?"

"You bet they do!"

"So then…you wouldn't think to report a woman who'd want to serve in the Imperial Army in disguise?"

All the color drained from Mushu's face, leaving his scales the shade of watered down pink lemonade. "I can't be hearing this…"

"Wouldn't even dream of it," Sora said in all earnest. "You can trust us."

Ping took a deep breath. "My true name…is Fa Mulan."

Mushu just about had a heart attack. He keeled over and foamed at the mouth.

"I've taken up my father's sword in order to fight in his place and uphold the Fa family honor. My father is injured and ill. If he were to fight…" Mulan grew silent.

"Say no more," Goofy replied. "You're taking your father's place so that nothing bad happens to 'im, right? Ahyuck, that sure is brave!"

Sora folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in wonder. "And in this world, women aren't allowed to fight?"

Mulan shook her head. "The only way for a woman to bring honor to her family is by bearing strong, healthy sons who will grow to serve in the Imperial Army."

"Well, Mulan, we think what you're doing is admirable—right guys?"

Goofy nodded and then elbowed Donald, who was still muttering expletives at the horse.

"What?" he quacked in a fury, and then, after receiving a stern frown, followed Goofy's head in nodding. "Yeah, sure. Whatever, toots. Just make with the soldiers, and make it snappy!"

"Your secret's safe with us," Sora assured her.

Mulan smiled. "Thanks, guys. Now let's hurry to the camp and help your friend."

"Whoa, whoa!" Mushu sprang back from the dead and scurried up to Mulan's shoulder. "Hold on, girl!" he hissed, nudging her to the side. "Time out! What do you think you're _doing_? You just told your deepest, darkest, most scandalous secret to a bunch of crazy-eyed drifters!"

"They promised not to tell anyone."

"Girl, you know the penalty for lying to the Imperial Army is _death_! Loose lips sinks ships, and I'm all out of tar sealant!"

"But, Mushu—"

"No buts, Missy! Now unless you want to add to the stockpile of dishonor you've got goin' on, you keep a lid on what's under the armor." Mushu gave Mulan a couple of pats to the cheek and pointed back towards Sora and the others. "Now hop to it, soldier! We've gotta get you and these guys to camp."

"But I can't just—" Mulan swallowed her words and almost choked. "Wait, you _want_ me to take them with us?"

"Of course I do! What better way to fit in than to sandwich you in between a couple of other guys? Compared to the walking petting zoo, you're the manliest one here." Mushu grabbed either end of Mulan's mouth and stretched it wide. "Now, smile, girl! We just got you an entourage!"

With Mushu giving the go-ahead, Mulan returned to the others with her guardian still riding on her shoulder. "Now listen up, y'all: I want no funny business! A word to anybody about Ping, and I'll have the whole clan of Fa family spirits whippin' you across the Yellow River!"

"We're not here to cause trouble," Sora reaffirmed, his face firm and true. "I just need to help my friend. Please; the Heartless are coming, and if we don't hurry, he might not make it!"

With a nod, Mulan hopped onto Khan and nodded towards the cart. "Get in! I'll get you there as fast as I can."

Sora and the others again climbed into the cart, and with a spurring "Hya!" they galloped on their way to camp.

* * *

The ride to the army camp was long, but not without merit. The panoramic view of the majestic mountains and pastoral valleys rekindled Sora's awe in the foreign world. Green mountains rolled on forever across the horizon, and their rich texture made Sora want to reach out and run his fingers over what he imagined felt like velvet moss. But no matter how hard he tried to lose himself in the beauty and novelty of China, he couldn't tear his thoughts away from Axel.

As the sun rose higher into the to peek just above a far-off mountain, Sora grew more anxious. His thoughts returned to the darkness of night, where savages and Heartless stalked in the shadows.

"Sora?"

Sora looked up towards Goofy, who was gently massaging his shoulder. "You're worried about Axel, aren't ya?"" He guided his hand down his arm, where a tear in the fabric showed a yellowish bruise underneath it. "You don't have to worry none; he's a tough fella. The army'll get to 'im in time, you'll see."

"But it's been hours, Goofy! What if—what if…" Sora clenched his fists. "What kind of a Keyblade master am I if I can't beat the Heartless when it counts?"

"Now, Sora, this wasn't your fault." Goofy winced a bit as he massaged his wounded elbow. "Let's not panic or beat up on ourselves 'till after we've done everything we could do and still turned up nothin'."

Sora let out a dejected sigh. "I guess so…" He returned his gaze outward where the cart was wheeling on past an expansive farm. Women were hunched over calf-deep in the water, planting their crops. Miles of water still lay bear, and Sora couldn't help but wonder how many hours of labor it would take to fill the entire field. Yet even when he tried to entertain himself with such questions, his mind continued to fall back to the forest filled with Shadows and his failure to purge it clean.

When they finally arrived at the army camp, Sora was the first to jump out of the cart. Mulan dismounted after bringing Khan to a halt, and then Goofy followed suit to join her on foot. Donald, on the other hand, enjoyed being carted around and remained comfortably cushioned betwixt the sacks of rice up until Mulan led her horse to rest at a watering trough.

Thousands of men traversed the camp, performing various tasks from chasing after chickens to sharpening the reserve of swords. In the distance echoed the commanding shouts of drill sergeants whipping the new recruits into shape, and nearby came the idle chattering of the new arrivals. Sora and the others followed the long line of newcomers towards the registration post, where each recruit produced their conscription notice and was chronicled into the register.

With his friend's life in the balance, Sora didn't bother waiting. He wheedled his way right to the front and demanded aid.

"I hope you're taking notes on this, girl," Mushu whispered from his hiding spot underneath Mulan's armor. "Men assert themselves by cutting, cheating, and in extreme cases, double-dipping."

"I need to talk to someone in charge!" Sora pleaded with the registrar. "It's an emergency!"

"Hey, what's the big idea?" growled Yao, the short, portly recruit behind Sora. "You gotta wait your turn just like everyone else!"

"Sorry, sir—this'll only take a moment! I need to—"

"What you _need to do_ is get outta my way!"

"I will as soon as I see someone in charge!"

"I'll show _you_ who's in charge!" Yao leaped into Sora and slugged him one in the jaw.

"And that's how men say 'hello'," Mushu added. "Go on and give it a try!"

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Mushu…" Mulan replied.

"Oh come on! Man up and get in there! You wanna uphold your honor, or what?"

Mulan sighed and pushed her way past the crowd. "Uh, hey, guys!" she said in her forced, manly voice. "This sure looks like some good, old fashioned manly fun! Mind if I join?"

Sora and Yao were too busy taking shots at each other to even acknowledge Mulan. It wasn't until Ling—a tall, slender guy—jumped in to try and pin Sora that others entered the ring. Always ready for a good bit of fisticuffs, Donald jumped in to even the odds, and Yao—who know sported a black eye and several loose teeth—hauled in a pleasantly-plump giant of a man named Chien-Po to really stack the fight.

"Hurry up, girl! You're missing all the good parts!" Mushu urged.

"But Mushu, I—"

Yao went flying from a webbed-footed kick to the gut and smacked right into Mulan. "You looking for a piece of this too?" he barked in his raspy voice. "I'll teach you to get in my way!"

Mulan's eyes went wide. "Eep!" She ducked as Yao threw a punch, sending his fist crunching into the heavy armor of a tall, muscular man.

"That's _enough_!" shouted the soldier from behind his fearsome helmet. His visor was crafted into the face of a mighty dragon, whose penetrating eyes and curled fangs sent shivers rippling down Yao's spine. "What's the meaning of this?"

Everyone pointed at Sora, Donald, and Mulan, leaving Goofy to droop his shoulders to a record low. "They started it!"

The armored soldier approached Sora and the others and looked down on them. "Explain yourselves!"

"This is all just a misunderstanding, sir," Goofy tried to reason, but Sora interrupted him.

"Please, sir! You have to help! There are Heartless in the forest, and one of my friends is in mortal danger!"

"Did you say…_Heartless_?" the soldier echoed in astonishment.

"Oh, that's right; I forgot. You don't know. See, the Heartless are—"

"No, I know exactly what they are."

"You do?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy asked in unison.

"Indeed. Follow me to my tent. There is much to be discussed." The man led the three teammates and Mulan—who didn't want to remain alone under the recruits' bloodthirsty gazes—to a nearby tent. "Please, sit." He motioned to the cushions on the floor before unbuckling his helmet and pulling it off to reveal his scarred face and long, black beard. "I am Xiao Gen, honored military strategist to the Emperor and chief organizer of the Anti-Heartless Campaign. And who might you be?"

Rather than wasting any more time on words, Sora summoned the Keyblade and let it do all the talking.

"My word!" Gen exclaimed. "You are the chosen!"

"You have to help us, Gen," said Sora. "We came here from a village in the north, where one of my friends is still in danger. He's trapped and surrounded by Heartless! You have to send reinforcements!"

"Village to the north, you say?" Gen reached behind him and pulled out a scroll, unraveling it across the table to reveal a map. "Can you tell me where?"

"Here," said Mulan, pointing to a region after studying the map for a moment.

"Ah, I see. And you say this village has fallen to the Heartless?"

Sora nodded. "The whole place was in flames, and all the survivors were turned to Heartless."

"The Huns attacked first," Mulan added.

Gen stroked his long beard. "This is most troubling. It is as I have feared: the Hun invasion has made China a breeding ground for Heartless."

"Will you please send reinforcements?" Sora pressed, grabbing the table tightly. "He's in trouble!"

"You needn't worry about your comrade; General Li mobilized his troops and left camp for the north not too long ago. He should have already come across and dealt with the Heartless born of that village."

Sora breathed a huge sigh of relief, and the tightness in chest unwound itself. "That's great! So Axel's going to be okay!"

"Aww, phooey!" Donald crossed his arms and grumbled a bit to himself.

"Ahyuck! Told ya there was nothin' to worry about," said Goofy, patting Sora on the shoulder.

"Now, then," said Gen with another stroke of his beard, "what more can you tell me of the Heartless that you have encountered?"

Sora explained the harrowing ordeal he and his teammates went through to fend off the army of savage warriors that evolved into gruesomely powerful Heartless. All the while, both Gen and Mulan listened with keen ears.

"I see," Gen said after a while. "It is odd that the Huns would stray so far from the road to the capital. How peculiar…" His eyes fell to study the map.

"If you don't mind my asking, can you tell me more about the Huns?" Sora asked.

"Ah, yes; of course. The Huns are a barbaric tribe that has lived outside this kingdom for many centuries. They have sought nothing but warfare since the beginning. If not for the benevolence of the Emperor, we would have long eradicated them from this world. Instead, the Great Wall was erected to peaceably keep meddlers outside of the kingdom, and it has served China well until Shan Yu—the Hun leader—managed the ungodly act of breaching what was once impenetrable."

"Gawrsh, if the wall was impenetrable for all this time," Goofy wondered with a scratch of his head, "how'd Shan Yu manage to break through it now?"

"Aw, that's easy, Goofy!" said Donald. "He just started using his brains! A battering ram could've done the trick. What wall can stand up to that?"

"The Great Wall can," Gen stated. "Nothing—not battering rams, swords, arrows, picks, rocks, or even rocket fire—could make a scratch on the Great Wall since its construction. Yet Shan Yu somehow managed the impossible and has besieged war on us."

"What's that wall made out of if it could withstand so many types of attacks?" Sora asked.

"That is a well-guarded secret that only the Emperor is privy to."

"What kind of secret is that now that your wall's all rubble?" Donald huffed.

"A tightly kept one."

"Phooey!"

"When the Huns breached the wall, they began to advance south." Gen dragged his finger along the map, pausing to circle it when landing on territories that have fallen. "It won't be long before they reach the gates to the Imperial Court. The Emperor has called for the army to defend the people at all costs, and our camp is seen as the last line of defense. We're situated near the quickest route to the Court. The mountain pass that rests not more than a day's journey from here is likely Shan Yu's intended destination. Should we fail to stop them there, the Huns will be upon the Emperor."

"Well, then, it's a good thing we got here when we did," said Goofy

Sora clenched his Keyblade. "We'll help in any way that we can."

"Why bother waiting?" Donald quacked. "Just roll out the troops and flatten those barbarians before they know what hit 'em!"

"General Li took the main troops," said Gen. "All the men currently stationed here are new recruits that require training from the commanding officer before they see battle."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Clean house until the big boys get back? No way!" Donald jumped up with a menacing frown, and stomped towards the exit. "I'm not gonna let some measly, little shadows get away with knocking me off a cliff! I'll show 'em, I'll show 'em!"

But before Donald could so much as lift the tent flap, shouts and screams permeated from the outside.

"Gen!" shouted a commanding voice above the panic. "Gen, where are you? Get over here _now_!"

Gen immediately rose to his feet and fingered his sword as he charged out of the tent, followed by Donald and the others. Dark clouds had overtaken the sunny sky, and chaos swept over the camp. Chickens flew around screeching and the hapless recruits ran around in just as much of a panic. The Heartless had come to camp, and they were taking no prisoners.

The recruits faired miserably against the Heartless. No arrows met their mark, swords slipped clean from hands in a single swing, and not one punch flew without serious recoil. The Shadows easily danced around the rookie warriors, and even the fisticuffs triad from earlier found themselves backed into a corner with nothing but a couple woks in their defense.

"Don't just stand there!" shouted the commanding voice. "Defend yourselves!" Captain Li Shang, commanding officer of the camp, flew towards the Heartless with sword at the ready. Though he fought against lowly Shadows, it took great skill and footwork for him to successfully evade all attacks and retaliate with killing blows. "Come on, are you men or women? Fight!"

Yao whacked the roosting chicken off his head and signaled his compatriots. "Ling, Chien-Po! Let's show 'im what a _real_ man can do!" With a rallying battle cry, he led the recruits into a stronger, rage-driven counterattack. Ling whacked the Heartless with wooden boards; Chien-Po threw chicken feed all over the Shadows, luring the chickens to peck them to death; Yao went hand-to-claw with the Shadows. The whole camp followed suit, using whatever materials they had at their disposal with which to smack, puncture, and skewer the Heartless. In the end, wayward food, boards and nails streamed through the air moreso than liberated hearts.

Meanwhile, Gen joined the captain and the two combined their expertise swordsmanship. They fluidly swerved around the Heartless, and with precise swings of the blade slashed away at them until another handful dispersed into freed hearts. Other Heartless soon accompanied the Shadows. More ghostly priests flew in, supported by puddles of Neoshadows culminating on the ground beneath them.

"What are these things?" Shang cried as he narrowly dodged a claw attack from a Neoshadow that tore his red cape to shreds.

"They're Heartless!" Sora replied with a slash of the Keyblade. He dispersed a Neoshadow with a single blow. "Come on, guys!"

Leading his friends into battle, Sora took up the charge and plowed through the Shadows with the Keyblade. Donald summoned a thunderstorm that electrocuted the floating priests with lightning bolts, while Goofy rammed his shield into the nearby Neoshadows. When Mulan managed to jimmy her sword free of its scabbard, she made slow, wide slashes that resulted more in blisters than aiding the battle effort.

"Come on, girl! Hand-eye coordination!" Mushu whispered. "It's just like whacking a gong or that lazy cow of yours!" But regardless of his encouraging advice, Mulan continued to miss her mark until a Neoshadow's claws plum scraped the sword out of her grasp.

As the battle progressed, the others weren't fairing any better. Donald ran out of juice midway through a blizzard spell, resulting in a couple of ice shavings that melted before they touched the ground. Goofy on the other hand threw his bruised arm out after an unsuccessful toss of the shield. The disc wobbled in the air and whacked Chien-Po in the stomach, where it ricocheted into Yao.

"Gawrsh, sorry!" Goofy apologized feebly before getting mobbed by Neoshadows. They went straight for the wounded arm, digging their claws into the burgeoning bruise.

Sora, in the meantime, found it difficult to get at the priests while they flew high into the air. He jumped up and down, swinging his Keyblade as high as he could stretch his arm, but the Heartless avoided his attacks with little trouble. They baited his attention while their brethren Neoshadows stalked up from behind and slashed the Keybearer with a dozen quick cuts.

Claws made to grab the most precious prize of all, and the priests lit the camp up with blues flames in preparation for the rite. The Heartless abandoned the others and swarmed towards the injured Keybearer. Goofy and Mulan watched powerless as the Shadows loomed over Sora. Donald grabbed one of Ling's spare planks and started whacking what Heartless he could, but it was like flicking ants off a counter. With the smell of something sweet nearby, they just rolled back onto their feet and climbed right up again.

With a groan, Sora tried to regain his footing but was overpowered by the swarm. The Heartless knocked him back and fell on his chest. Demonic, yellow eyes met his, and in them, he saw death. The darkness was void of all warmth, and it chilled his body as the Shadows pressed further into his every muscle. Sora's breathing grew erratic as he twirled his Keyblade in desperation and dispersed as many as he could before two swords pried him free of the rest. Shang and Gen picked apart the Heartless, slicing them like onions until a rush of hearts floated up into the sky.

"Are you all right, Sora?" Gen asked as he sheathed his sword and offered his hand.

"I think so." Sora got to his feet and looked around. The camp was in disarray. All the food stores lay scattered across the grounds and half the livestock had fled during the commotion. Some recruits didn't survive the ordeal, and several bodies lay facedown in the dirt. Medics attended to the wounded, and a couple bandaged up Donald and Goofy, the latter of whom rested unconscious in a hammock.

The Keyblade master lowered his head in defeat. "This is horrible…"

"This is war." Shang approached Sora with a stern frown. "And it's not a place for children."

"Captain, this is no mere child," said Gen. "He's the one I was telling you about—the Keyblade master!"

Shang narrowed his eyes. "This _boy_ is the legendary warrior of whom you've regaled tales of his glories and battle prowess to the Emperor?"

"It's true! He has the Keyblade—show him," Gen instructed to Sora.

With a hesitant glance at his weapon, Sora lifted the coveted blade for the captain to inspect. With a keen, deliberate brush of the fingers, Shang examined the giant key and grunted. "You may be the Keyblade master," he said, "but you are no soldier."

"Hey, I managed to take down more Heartless with less effort than you and the others!"

"That may be true, but your technique in battle is sloppy and undisciplined. Continue fighting like that and you'll again become only a myth."

"I can't just give up!" Sora contended.

"I didn't tell you to give up. If you are serious about your duties, then you must be trained in the art of war."

"Trained?"

"This is a training camp for new recruits. If you stay here, you will undergo the training necessary to become an elite guard of the Imperial Army."

Sora glanced at the Keyblade, which shined unscathed in his hand unlike the many people around him. He took one last look at his battle-damaged friends and surroundings before accepting Shang's request. "I want to become a better fighter. Everyone's counting on me."

"Good." Shang stepped to the middle of the field and shouted for attention. "Everyone, listen up: all training will commence tomorrow after this camp is restored to proper order! Once the injured and dead are tended to, I expect you all to pick up every last grain of rice, pitch every tent, and return everything to its place! Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," groaned the crowd.

"I said: is that understood!"

"YES, SIR!"

Shang gave a firm nod and turned to Gen. "See that our newcomers receive proper accommodations."

Gen bowed. "Yes, captain."

Shang left to straighten up his own tent, and Sora went to see to his friends.

"Will he be okay?" Sora asked of Goofy, who was still unconscious.

"He's resting now. He should be better in the morning," the medic replied.

"Poor Goofy," Donald sighed with sad eyes. It was the first time Sora had seen him look so sincerely concerned. "Don't worry, pal! I'll heal you once I've got more magic. I promise!"

Sora wandered over to a barrel and slumped down for a sit. He stared at the Keyblade still in his hands, and with a dejected sigh, wished it away. It dispersed into light leaving Sora deep in thought.

"That's twice I failed to stop the Heartless…"

He clenched his eyes shut and tried hard not think about the men digging graves out in the distance.

* * *

On the shores of a beach in a place long forgotten by the sands of time, there sat an old, decrepit man barely covered in rags that stared out into the murky ocean. A hazy fog blanketed the beach, allowing his vision to exceed no more than a few feet past the rolling waves. No sun shined in that place, yet an ethereal light emanated from the pale sky.

With a hunched back, the old man sat motionless with his glazed, olive eyes staring unblinkingly at the grey waters surging up and down the shore. Sometimes, the waves would come up far enough to wash across his bare feet. But he could no longer feel the frigid waters; there was no warmth left in him to note the difference.

Every now and then, a gust of wind would blow past him, pushing against the many sagging wrinkles in his face. It tossed his long, white hair and beard in all directions, yet the old man never made a move to untangle or straighten himself. Sometimes, the wind would whisper to him, but he would ignore it. The wind would try harder in attempt to spur him with momentous force, but still the old man would sit with eyes fixed on the dismal tide.

When the wind howled loudest, however, it screamed. The old man could not ignore its screams no matter how hard he tried to resist.

"Why me? I don't know what I'm doing!" cried the wind. "What is any of this for? It doesn't seem real… I want to stop, but if I do, what'll happen? Should I keep going? _Can_ I keep going? Someone help! _Help me_!"

When he heard these words, the old man whispered in a cracked, withered voice from underneath his bushy beard: "_Άγει δε προς φως την αλήθειαν χρόνος._"

He said no more and no less, and the wind continued to howl, deaf to the old man's words.

* * *

A/N: We've been giving Axel most of the spotlight. Now it's Sora's turn. In comparison to Axel, his introspection is far more fragmented, and it seems more cryptic on the surface. It's best to bookmark his reflections for future reference.

This chapter went through so many drafts and variations that I don't even want to comment.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

High in the mountaintops overlooking the blazing forest where the wind howled with the agony of a thousand dead souls, a lone woman stood with a pair of binoculars in hand. She was a woman not born of China, who stood as stiff as a board in her native, ceremonial attire. Strong shoulders decorated with luminescent markings identified her rank and worth, and every piece of her uniform was pristine, polished, and neatly kempt.

With a smug smile, she peered down into the mayhem where Axel single-handedly thrust himself into the mob of Heartless. Hundreds of Shadows fell on him accompanied by a variety of different breeds. Though he struggled at first, Axel slowly progressed away from the cliff and carved himself a path into the heart of the fire. With a loud _pop _the centermost flames were absorbed into him, leaving nothing but smoke in its wake. Fueled by the extra boost, Axel streamlined through the Heartless forces, absorbing any and all stray flames in his path to further propel him along his path of destruction.

"Well, well; this is most unexpected," she mused with a smirk. "What kind of data will you provide me with, I wonder?" The woman lowered her binoculars and replaced them with a pair of spectacles. "You could be just the one I need." She turned around and snapped her fingers.

Two soldiers rushed out from the bushes and saluted her. "Yes, Lieutenant Colonel!"

The woman folded her hands behind her back, giving them the once-over. The soldiers were each clad in a high-tech armor built with technology from another world. Tubes branched out from the facial nozzle and looped around their helmets, and large, glowing optic lens concealed their eyes. They held their firearms at their sides as they stood at attention awaiting their orders.

"I trust we can begin the second testing phase of Project Amalgam."

"Yes, ma'am!" replied one of the soldiers. "Subject Manticore has been tagged and collared. The injection unit is on standby awaiting your command."

"Excellent." She ran a cunning hand through her long hair, which flowed behind her like a cape. "Prepare to mobilize."

"Ma'am!" The soldiers saluted once more before about-facing and charging off into the bushes.

"Now, Mr. Fire Man," said the Lieutenant Colonel while raising her binoculars once more, "show me the darkness that falls after the last ember of humanity dies."

* * *

In the clearing devoured by the insatiable flames, Axel stood at a standstill. His feet slid across the ash that covered the charred land as he tried to maintain an advantage over the burgeoning Heartless forces. But it was no use. A thick blanket of darkness enveloped the dead forest, and with the last of the fire absorbed to keep Axel standing tall, the only flicker of light came from the piercing, yellow eyes that surrounded the lone warrior.

"I hate to say it, Cricket, but looks like this is the end of the line," Axel said while darting his head from side to side in futile attempt to find an open path. The Heartless drew nearer. Claws, fangs, hooves, and various weapons at the ready to tear their prey limb from limb and divide amongst themselves what little fragments of a heart they could. The size of the heart was inconsequential to the Heartless, for a prize is a prize no matter how big, small, or complete.

"There must be something we can do!" From Axel's shoulder, Jiminy looked around for a tree to climb or thicket to escape into and hide. But nothing remained upon the scorched earth save for a few burnt stalks of bamboo that leveled as the wind carried away their ashes.

"Face it; it's over." Axel extended chakrams to either side of himself as far as his arms would stretch. "Cricket, it's been all fun and dandy having you camp out in my ear canal, but the free ride's over. Time for you to hit the road."

"What are you saying? You can't give up!"

"We're in what used to be one of the largest patches of green I've ever seen and this army's practically covering every inch of it! Imagine what'll happen after they off the two of us and march after Sora. The kid'll be dead fifteen times before he hits the ground! No way I'm letting that happen. There's only one way to kill these punks, and it involves the biggest bang of them all!"

Jiminy's jaw quivered as he watched the fire blazing in Axel's eyes channel out into his torso and arms. "You're not suggesting—you're not going to…?"

"Cricket, you'd best start running now if you want to make it out alive!"

"For Walt's sake, don't do it! There has to be another way! Don't—AXEL, _NO_!"

It was too late. Jiminy up and threw his top hat and umbrella away in panic as the ground opened from under Axel's feet and spat out the flames of Hell itself to circle round the barren field.

"You pathetic, worthless peons! I'll show you why they called me _The Flurry of Dancing Flames!_" Axel burst out into psychotic laughter as his pure lifeforce bled out to sear clean through his foes. The shadows melted from the blazing might of his soul's eternal flame. The dead forest crackled with the explosion of a million flames, and Axel felt a piece of himself dissolve into each new erupting flame. Despite the sweltering intensity of the fire, Axel never felt so cold.

Jiminy clung onto dear life while shouting for Axel to cease and desist, but his words fell on deaf ears. After the initial explosion of flames, Axel bent his knees and sprung forward for the killing blow. He blasted through shadows at full speed, but before he could leap into the air and surge back down with the force of an atomic bomb, a loud horn sounded off and heralded the war cry of the Imperial Army.

Thousands of horses flooded onto the battlefield, slaughtering the Heartless and carving a path straight to Axel. The centaurs rushed to meet the occasion, knocking soldiers to the ground while tackling or spearing their steeds. Puddles of Neoshadows pooled under the newcomers and emerged to take them unawares. Men were cleaved by spears, trampled by hooves, immolated by corrupted flames, and impaled by razor claws. Hundreds of soldiers lay scattered across the field as lifeless as the earth beneath them, yet still the army fought with swords and shields at the ready as a storm of arrows plummeted from the sky. The Heartless forces fell into sharp decline, and soon, they disappeared altogether from the forest, leaving the Imperials victorious.

With the last of the Shadows dispersed, General Li cantered towards Axel with sword extended. A proud and decorated hero, General Li sat straight on his mighty white steed, hand reaching up to stroke the thin, black beard ringed around his mouth. He studied Axel with a keen, piercing gaze, taking note of his haggard breathing and battered body. "You are not of this world," he stated.

Axel let out a weak laugh. "What gave me away?"

"The hair, the eyes, the clothes—take your pick," replied the General. "And by the looks of your battle scars, I'd say you are no ally to the Heartless. Might you then be affiliated with the Resistance?"

"What a brilliant deduction," Axel rasped. Even half dead, he still clung to his sarcasm.

General Li sheathed his sword and pulled a sacred, golden vial from his satchel, dropping it into Axel's lap. "The Emperor owes much to your Ambassador Paine. Consider this reimbursement for her services."

"So glad we could be friends," Axel crooned as he uncorked the vial with his mouth and downed its contents. Within seconds, his rekindled inner flame singed the cold hand of death that was tugging at his soul.

"You'll need to report to Xiao Gen," said the General. "This Heartless infestation has the potential to tip the scales of war in the Hun's favor, and that is something we cannot allow."

Axel stood upright and brushed the ash from his clothes. "I remember that name; he's that liaison Cid was babbling about."

"He is head councilor and strategist to the Emperor for all Heartless-related matters. You are most fortunate that his current assignment has him stationed at a nearby military installation to the south. Your journey is not but a day's ride from here."

"It's the best place to wait for Sora," Jiminy whispered after recovering his fallen paraphernalia and resituating himself on Axel's shoulder. "He'll be searching for Gen, too, after all."

"All right," Axel nodded. "Point the way."

General Li turned to signal one of his soldiers, who then escorted a horse to the front. "Ling Gong was a soldier," the General said in a stern tone peppered with admiration and mourning. He stroked the horse as he continued to speak. "He would want Qiong here to continue serving to honor his memory." Letting his hand fall to the reins, he guided Qiong towards Axel. "I trust you know how to ride?"

"I've had some crazy practice," Axel jibed while unconsciously massaging his lower back where the centaurs had trampled him. He mounted the horse in one go and adjusted himself on the saddle several times to find his balance. At first, he hunched too far and became conscious of his posture when the surrounding soldiers began to snicker and murmur amongst themselves as reached for the reins. Centaurs made for poor horse riding practice, he realized, and he forced himself to sit with back straight like the General.

"To reach the camp, just follow the nearby river south," said the General, pointing Axel in the right direction.

"Will do." Not knowing exactly how to get his horse to start moving, Axel tugged and whipped the reins as if he were a taffy puller on the boardwalk, earning another round of chuckles from the soldiers until Qiong finally started cantering away…_in the wrong direction_. "Stupid horse," Axel grumbled as he pulled the reins and somehow managed to spin himself southbound.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Jiminy said while reviewing his journal. "Why didn't you use the mega-potion you had purchased?"

"It's not mine to use."

"You purchased it; of course it's yours to use!"

"I bought it for Sora. Never had the chance to give it to him."

Qiong suddenly came to a stop, and Jiminy used the opportunity to jump onto Axel's nose and look him square in the eye. "There are a million other potions where that came from, but there's only one _you_!"

"Look, ten extra seconds of an energy boost wasn't going to make much of a difference against an army of cutthroat Heartless! Now quit your yapping unless you want to bite your tongue clean off!" Axel whipped the reins, but Qiong refused to budge. "The heck's wrong with you?" He tried again, this time jabbing his feet into the horse's sides, but Qiong remained stock-still.

"Maybe he's just as concerned about your poor choices as your conscience is!" Jiminy huffed.

"I seriously doubt that."

They hadn't even cleared through the troops yet when Qiong decided to stop. He grunted and neighed, and when Axel tried yet again to spur him forward, he jumped with fright on his hind legs, nearly chucking Axel clean off his back.

"What the _hell_?" Axel managed to steady the horse long enough to catch a glimpse of distant group of soldiers quelling their own spooked steeds before falling dead in the dirt. The soldiers toppled like dominoes, parting the way for a most horrid sight.

A single, deranged man with a twisted, howling laugh stormed his way through the troops. He killed everything in his path with his bare hands, which were blacker than the Devil's hooves with pointed fingers sharpened like knives that pierced clean through the armored men and carved out their still-beating hearts. Speckled with the blood of their riders, the once white horses galloped away scared as the crazed man trudged forward, his yellow eyes as wild as an untamed beast's. He wore but a single, ragged loincloth and a few stray, scraggly hairs wisped around his blacked head. The rest of his body was riddled with pus-filled holes punctured into him by various gauged syringes. His neck proved the most eye-catching in that encased snugly around it was a large collar that flashed with a series of white and blue lights.

"What in Walt's name happened to that man?" Jiminy gasped, his eyes as wide as saucers.

Axel didn't answer; his attention focused on the commanding shouts of General Li spurring his men into action. He watched as the soldiers regrouped and mobilized, charging head-on at the enemy with swords drawn. The battle horn sounded off giving prelude to the rallying cries of the soldiers. They threw themselves at the psychotic killer, barring his escape and pummeling him with an endless stream of attacks. Many suffered a painful demise, but the sheer number of oncoming soldiers soon overpowered the solitary man as they buried him in a dog pile of their largest and most muscular men.

Silence befell the battlefield, and Axel watched the mountain of men with narrowed, unblinking eyes. He counted the seconds in his head: One…two…three…four…five…

_**YARGH!**_

The psychotic killer—a small and bowed man with little muscle on his bones—threw the soldiers from off his person, scattering them in every cardinal direction with a sickening, howler laughter that scraped at Axel's heart. The collar around his neck flashed several times until it settled on a steady, electric blue. Not long after, the man began to heave deep, strained breaths as his chest grew with each push and pull of the lungs. He hunched all the more, his sadistic laughter morphing into a rumbling growl as his blackened hands touched the ground. His body grew ten times its size, with newfound venous muscles bulging where there once were none. A stomach-churning crackling came from his disfiguring body as his bones snapped and cracked, mutating the man into an inhuman monstrosity. His body grew black as pitch and his eyes shined with an ungodly luminescent yellow. A scorpion-like tail flew out of his rear, impaling six soldiers and giving them instant death.

The monster roared and the soldiers charged. None were a match for the gruesome beast. Hundreds of soldiers threw themselves at the monster only to be clawed, chewed, or impaled. Some were stomped and flattened, while still others were torn to pieces.

"General, we must retreat!" cried one soldier before losing his head.

Unsheathing his sword, General Li grabbed the reins of his horse and shouted with all his might: "We must stop this wretched beast from reaching the Emperor! True men fight without fear! True men make the Middle Kingdom shudder with their vitality! Bring honor to yourself; bring honor to your family; _bring honor to China_!"

The General spurred his horse forward and charged into the chorus of war cries. He didn't wrestle long with the beast before its tail knocked him off his horse and its razor-sharp claws diced him to shreds. The General's dented helmet rolled out from under the beast and stopped near his bloodstained sword.

Where once thousands of soldiers stood tall and proud on the desecrated field now lay piles of battered bodies and warped metal. Some horses managed to flee, while others shared the fate of their riders. The army was decimated, leaving Axel the sole survivor. He didn't wait long to gallop away from the newfound graveyard. Scared out of his mind, Qiong sped out of the clearing as if the Devil himself were on his tail.

With a bone-chilling roar, the monster bounded after Axel, its hungry, forked tongue trailing out of its mouth. Soon, they were back in forested territory with long stalks of bamboo to limit their exposure. But the beast made short work of the obstacles in its path, striking them down with its tail to clear the way forward.

"Faster, go faster!" Jiminy cried.

"Not helping, Cricket!" Axel shot a quick glance backwards and saw that the beast was gaining on them. Snapping his fingers, Axel lit the surrounding flora ablaze to try and buy more time. But the monster charged headfirst through the firewall unfazed and picked up speed.

"Brace yourself!" Axel shouted, and Jiminy scrambled back into his ear canal just before the beast leaped through the air and landed smack in front of Qiong.

Qiong rose up high onto his hind legs, bucking Axel clean off and sending him flying into a bush. Before he could gallop away, however, the monster clawed him, piercing straight through his midsection and raising him up to its mouth. The monster chomped Qiong in half and discarded his remains.

"I'm gonna be sick," Axel spat as he summoned his chakrams. He kept his eyes trained on the monster as it stalked closer, bearing its venomous fangs and hovering its tail high in preparation for assault. It struck first, pouncing forward to claw at its prey, but Axel dodged it in time and counterattacked.

Fire augmenting his every attack, Axel turned the heat up high as he tried to scorch the vicious beast into submission. But its brutal force pounded into him and tossed him from side to side like a rag doll. He went flying in all directions, crashing into all sorts of trees and bamboo stalks while the beast remained virtually unscathed.

The battle drew on for a long time, with Axel focusing more on his agility than strength, hoping to wear the beast down and weaken its defenses. Every strategy failed, however. Axel wound up wearing down his own defenses moreso than his enemy's, and as his energy waned with each new bruise, cut, and strained muscle, his technique grew dangerously sloppy. One whip of the tail sent him packing into the dirt, where the beast loomed near with claw ready to strike.

The claw came down like a hammer, giving Axel no time to roll to safety. He instead brought up the arm still strapped with Goofy's shield up to absorb the impact. With an enraged howl, the beast pushed all of its weight to force its paw down, but Axel utilized the few second delay to start an exploding fire from under the beast's belly. It howled even louder as it retreated from the flames.

Axel rebounded to his feet and followed up with another fiery strike. He managed to knick the beast in its deformed, humanoid face, earning another sickening shriek from the ungodly creature as it lashed its tail to skewer its pesky prey. Axel again defended himself with the shield, parrying the tail and going in with another jab of the chakrams.

By now, the beast was more than annoyed. It caught Axel off-guard and slashed him upside the face, sparing no time in striking at him again and again. When Axel went to recover his balance, the beast whipped its tail intending to pierce straight through his chest. But Axel wobbled to the side, leaving his unshielded arm vulnerable. He let out a pain-filled cry as the scorpion-like tail skewered his bicep and pulled out to leave a messy wound and his arm defunct. The beast wasted no time in head-butting the wounded and disoriented warrior further into the forest and charging after him with fangs at the ready. It dove in to take a chomp out of Axel as he did Qiong.

Axel lay flat on his back, blinded by the excruciating pain surging up and down his injured limb. With gritted teeth, he tried to bite back the screams. The beast had knocked him back near a cliff overlooking a thicker forest. It was the end of the road, though he could hardly gain his bearings. He wanted to singe his wounds closed, but could barely gather the strength to do so. His vision began to blur, but with so little light in the nighttime forest, it made little difference.

When the piercing yellow fell upon him, however, he forced the pain away and focused only on the monster's eyes. The endgame neared; it was all or nothing. The beast leaped towards him with its mouth wide open. Thick saliva dripped from its crooked fangs as its jaw opened wider. It sped down like a missile, but then, something flew straight into its mouth just seconds before it could envelop Axel. The beast collapsed atop Axel, crushing him beneath it as it gagged and wheezed. The foreign object was lodged in its throat at a funny angle, impeding the flow of oxygen. Axel's howls of pain were drowned by the beast's guttural, hacking groans.

The beast tossed and rolled about, trying to cough up the obstruction in vain. It neared the edge of the cliff, and with one final, loud gasp, toppled clear over, taking Axel with it. They crashed into the trees below where the beast lay lifeless and Axel remained as equally motionless not more than a few paces away.

High above the scene, a hawk screeched as it eyed the devastation and flew off into the night.

* * *

Far to the north, there lay a village in ruins. Heartless danced on the graves of the fallen, and the Huns feasted and drank while huddled around a fire. What little livestock had remained after the raid was skewered and eaten, and the Huns enjoyed another victorious day of pillaging.

"When will we make for the Court?" said one Hun after biting the head off a chicken. "I'm tired of ransacking the smallfry!"

"I'm hungry for royal blood!" hissed another.

Shan Yu gave a devilish smirk, the fire illuminating his dark features. "Patience. The bounty will taste all the sweeter when you purify the fields before planting the new crops." At that moment, a hawk screeched and came to rest on his arm. "Ah, you've returned, Hayabusa."

Hayabusa screeched some more, cocking his head to the side and Shan Yu's features grew darker. His smirk caved in.

"That _woman_ is here," said a Hun as he approached the fire from the lookout post.

Shan Yu rose to his feet and shoved him aside as the decorated Lieutenant Colonel approached him with a smug smile. Hayabusa cawed and took off to circle around the campsite from above.

"So this is where you've been," she said. "I thought you'd be slipping through the mountain pass by now."

"And I thought we had an understanding," said the snide leader as he drew nearer.

All fell silent as they watched the exchange. Two guards stood on either side of the Lieutenant Colonel armed with rifles while the Huns sat still, cradling what remained of their feast.

"Oh? And what, pray tell, was this understanding?"

"I hear you've been experimenting again," Shan Yu grabbed the Lieutenant Colonel by the throat, "_on my men_!"

The high-tech soldiers aimed their rifles. "Put her down, _now_!" they shouted, but Shan Yu's grip remained firm as his eyes blazed with satanic fire.

"Don't…be foolish…" gasped the Lieutenant Colonel as she tugged at the Hun's relentless hold. "Kill me, and you…kill your ambitions."

"We won't warn you again! Hands off!"

The Huns continued to watch as their leader kept the foreigner in a chokehold only to relinquish his grasp and turn his back. "Let this be a warning to you," he said upon signaling his men. They got to their feet, abandoning what little half-eaten foodstuffs they had to reach for their weapons as the high-tech guards continued to maintain their offensive stance. "We mutually benefited from the Wall's collapse, but now, our dealings are at an end. Touch my men again, and your head will garnish the table alongside the Emperor's."

Hayabusa streaked down to land on his master's arm once more and Shan Yu made to leave camp, followed by the others. They slowly pooled out of the demolished village and headed south, leaving the Lieutenant Colonel and her guards alone.

"Ma'am, are you sure it's wise to let him go? We can have the first battalion on them within minutes!"

The Lieutenant colonel straightened her uniform and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "That won't be necessary," she replied with a cunning smile. "Let the fool dream of freedom while he can." She snapped her fingers, and one of the guards radioed in a helicopter. Climbing aboard with her entourage, the Lieutenant Colonel strapped herself in as the chopper took off in the opposite direction of the Hun army.

Taking out a small laptop computer, she signed into her account and booted up a telecommunications program. Within moments, a direct feed to Galenth Dysley opened up, and the dastardly old man sneered into the camera.

"You are late in your report, Colonel Nabaat."

"My apologies, Primarch," replied the Lieutenant Colonel as cool as ice. "There were some testing delays."

"I don't care for your excuses. I want results."

"Subject Manticore was a success," she stated. "Minimizing cognitive abilities for an optimization in primal brutality is a risky trade-off. However, it proves invaluable in settings with mass groups of opponents. The unpredictability of its actions heightens its destructive capabilities."

"Mass produce them at once."

"As you wish, sir."

"And the other?"

"The experiment is currently progressing. I'll have more to report on Subject Thoroughbred within the next few weeks."

"See that you do."

"Sir!" The Lieutenant Colonel gave a quick salute before Dysley cut the connection. She then closed the computer with care and crossed her legs, taking a glance out the window where the rising sun brought light to various fields of crops and greenery. "What a dirty world this is," she mused with utter contempt. "Amalgam will give it the purpose the gods never could."

* * *

A/N: Characters you may not know:

Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat - _Final Fantasy XIII_

General Li - _Mulan_


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

When Axel awoke, the first thing he did was gasp for air. He could feel the phantom weight of the giant beast still crushing his chest, and as he filled his lungs to the brim, found little relief in the chilled air. It didn't register with him at first that the smell of scorched bamboo and ash was absent from the field, nor did he realize that the abstract ground beneath him lacked the rugged texture of China's mountainous forest. When the prickling pain from his multiple injuries melted away, he felt as good as new. Though the moment he turned to look at his punctured arm, the sight struck him with paralyzing fear.

The messy wound left by the scorpion-like tail had completely vanished. But that's not what startled Axel. His whole arm was now see-through and emitted an ethereal blue aura. He stared with his mouth agape and face contorted in utter mortification as he rotated his wrist and flexed his fingers only to see the frame of his appendages wisp through the air as if made of smoke. Slowly, he returned his arm to his side and rested his head flat to stare up at the darkened sky. It was pure black, just as his surroundings. Black as far as the eye could see, and somehow, he expected as much, though didn't quite understand why.

A sudden terror seized him as he stared into the darkness. Clutching at his transparent chest, he sprung up and forced himself to his feet. "_Cricket_!" he shouted frantically. "Cricket, where are you? _Cricket_!"

Jiminy didn't answer.

Axel darted his eyes around like a frightened animal that could sense an approaching predator. When it became apparent that he was alone within the endless field of black, he shouted for the only person he prayed could hear him. "_Gaspar_! Get out here, you crazy, old man! I can't be dead yet! Send me back! _Send me back_!" He waited, ears perked and breath hushed. No reply came.

Taking in a deep breath, Axel threw back his head and shouted as loud as he could until he squeezed out every last bit of air from his lungs.

"_GASPAR_!"

Heaving out of anxiety and frustration, he fell to his knees and shouted all the more upon recovering his breath. And yet, his voice echoed alone in the darkness.

Some time passed and Axel crouched down like a statue, his fists pressing hard against the invisible ground. His frantic mind cycled through his every last memory, and in a flash he died a thousand deaths as he watched himself abandon Roxas, spirit away Kairi, and flee from Saix. Self-loathing fizzed up to his mouth where he almost exploded in a fit of rage, but the movie reel kept playing, speeding him through the End of Time, New Port, and Traverse Town until he saw himself gallop away from the Manticore.

Axel gritted his teeth and punched the ground of nothingness. "Are you kidding me?" he cried, punching it again. "A hobo? A stupid, slacked-jawed, genetically-spliced _hobo_ killed me?" He punched the ground again and again, finally spitting on it. "Sure, he had mutated into a beast, but he was still a bucked-tooth loser with only a moth-eaten cloth to his name!"

In a fit of fury, Axel flipped to his feet and shouted into the abyss: "_I DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY TO GET KILLED BY THE SLUM DRUNK CENTAUR_! _YOU HEAR ME, OLD MAN_?"

No reply came, not that Axel was expecting one. The battle with the Manticore replayed in Axel's mind, rewinding past when the soldiers fell and the forest went up in flames. He again watched himself grab Kairi and haul her into the darkness, and he stood stock still as Roxas came and left in the empty alley. His head pounded as darkness sprouted through his mind. The reel of memories stopped, and in the thicket of black fog, he could make out but a single pair of glowing, orange eyes and their piercing gaze.

"You damned thief," Axel grunted. He shivered where he kneeled, clutching his aching head as his ethereal body grew hot, almost as if with fever. "Give it back," he sputtered, voice going horse. He continued to repeat those words, each time more pleading and pathetic than the last, until out from the darkness came the fabrication of a man cloaked in a black coat.

"This is all _your_ fault, you slimy sack of spite!"

The man crossed his arms and grinned like a devil.

"You've stolen my life!"

"You had lost your life long before my interference." The man's grin widened. "Don't you…_remember_?"

Something inside of Axel snapped. He closed his eyes and screamed to drown out the man's maniacal laughter. The ground soon quaked and the man disappeared. In his place materialized a cobbled street. Antiquated buildings crafted from various types of marble sprouted like trees and surrounded Axel, and not long after, solid, flesh and blood people materialized.

Peasants ran through the streets, screaming and crying as they pushed past the armored soldiers who marched in the opposite direction. Unawares of the danger, Axel watched the terrified masses evacuate the heart of their city when he caught sight of the puddles of darkness chasing after them. The Heartless emerged and tackled as many people as they could, converting most casualties to their ranks. The soldiers fought with their swords, spears, and arrows, but in the end, the battle was no contest. All fell to the burgeoning darkness.

His head no longer aching, Axel drew from his returning strength and rose to his feet to join in the fight. But he could not summon his chakrams, nor could he conjure any flames. Any civilians he tried to protect ran straight through him, distorting his smoky torso upon impact. Even his voice failed him; none reacted to his warning shouts. He was a ghost given a front-row seat to the total annihilation of an unknown world for reasons far beyond his comprehension.

Buildings collapsed and fires erupted to consume what little remained of the broken city. The Heartless forces devoured hope and hearts alike as they moved to cover more territory than the dwindling army could guard. As the cruel hand of fate crushed the city, a blinding, white light exploded in the distance. All went silent, either because none remained to scream or because the impact of the blast stunned the populous. Then, a single battle cry of a soldier echoed throughout the ruined metropolis.

More explosions sounded off, and Axel ran towards the conflict's center. He traversed the pothole-ridden road littered with rubble and corpses until he happened upon a mob of grotesque pureblood Heartless. They looked nothing like Shadows or Neoshadows, but were bulbous in structure with pustules of dark muck popping and oozing from their deformed bodies. An absence of necks made it impossible to distinguish precisely where their torsos ended and heads began. What ill resembled a face was composed of two misshaped eyes below a slanted, fanged mouth.

A lone soldier stood between the hungry Heartless and a group of injured civilians. Clad in silver-like armor, he brandished a sword in either hand and lunged himself at the Heartless. Light exploded from every connecting hit and the deformed monstrosities groaned and moaned like diseased mules. It was a sickening sound that Axel prayed would soon end. The dark muck spewing from their wounds splattered onto the soldier's armor, dissolving it like acid. He hastened his assault to claim victory before losing all protection. Upon skewering the final Heartless, he dropped his swords and quickly unlatched his disintegrating helmet and armor.

"Flee to the mountains!" the soldier ordered the civilians upon disposing of his muck-ridden paraphernalia. "Reinforcements will greet you there."

Some civilians bowed and thanked him, while others fell to tears at his feet and kissed them.

"Praise be to you, m'Lord! May the Light forever shine on the crown!" They sang him a dozen praises, but the soldier would have none of it.

"Hurry and flee, you fools! Your darkest hour is upon you!" The soldier shooed the peasants away then kneeled to retrieve his swords. All the while, Axel watched with his mouth agape. He was older and more rugged than Axel remembered, with tanner skin and a five o'clock shadow, but he still kept his blond hair swirled up in spikes and his eyes, though green, shined with undefeatable determination.

"_Roxas_?"

The soldier gave his swords a quick twirl before sheathing them. He then turned to run down a back alley, unaware that the Shadows watched his every move. Axel started running after him when a Heartless sprang out to catch the soldier off guard.

"Roxas, look out!" Axel shouted, but of course, his words went unheard.

The Heartless aimed to dig its claws into the soldier's unprotected back when it exploded in midair. The soldier slid to a stop and craned his neck to look straight where Axel stood.

"You're here!"

Confused and a bit exhilarated, Axel pointed to himself. "You talking to me?"

The soldier smiled with relief and started walking towards Axel. "I saw that beast from the tower. It decimated the entire army. I was worried…" The soldier stopped short of Axel, his jaw clenched and eyes twinkling with elation.

Axel opened his mouth to reply with a whole slew of inquiries, but a stranger's voice beat him to the punch.

"How many times have I told you to watch your flank?" barked the approaching general. He was a tall and muscular man, clad in white armor. A long, red cape flowed behind him embroidered with a golden crown in its center. "And why in Apollo's name are you skipping about the rubble in your undergarments?"

"The darkness ate my armor! I was hurrying off to find some replacements just now."

"Fair enough, but you shouldn't have left the castle. Leave the monsters to me."

"But—"

"I don't want to hear it!" roared the general. "You're next in line to inherit the throne, and with the way this war is going—"

"Father _won't_ die!"

The soldier with the uncanny resemblance to Roxas even captured his stubbornness. He shot the general the same stern, piercing gaze Roxas gave Axel during their final battle against each other. Axel reached out to him, but his hand went straight through his shoulder.

"I never said that he would," replied the general. "But it's still reckless for you to be out in the open like this."

"And what about you? You were almost eaten by a giant beast!"

"_Almost_ is the operative word here."

"Yeah, just like I was _almost_ disintegrated by darkness."

"I'm the leader of the army; you're the King's successor. We both have our roles to play. That's the way it goes, and there's no 'almost' about it."

The soldier scoffed. "Fine, but don't think you can protect me forever."

"We'll see about that." His visibility limited by the narrow slit of his helmet, the general pivoted his head to follow the soldier as he marched away towards the castle gates where he paused for a second.

"And you're wrong," he said, his back to the general. "There's an 'almost' here. You were _almost_ chosen instead of me." With those words he started marching again where he was greeted by a troop of reinforcements who guided him safely behind the gates.

With a mighty harrumph, the general about-faced and marched onward to where the darkness festered in full force. Axel stared dumbfounded as the general single-handedly wrestled with Heartless until they faded along with the devastated metropolis back into abstract black space.

"What the hell did I just witness?" Axel finally muttered after some time. He jumped when a sudden, firm hand came down to clasp his shoulder and spun around to see the familiar frame of the Messenger towering over him. "_You_ again? I should've known…"

"This was a message…from the Chronicler," said the Messenger is his deep, ominous voice.

A dizzying feeling swept over him as the pressure in his head returned. Forced to his knees, he let out a powerful cry until the pain steadily subsided. "What did you do to me?" he shouted at the Messenger, but someone else answered in his stead.

"The quota is not yet met," echoed the familiar voice of Gaspar throughout the black space. "Return him."

"Message received." Without warning, the Messenger placed his large hand atop Axel's head. Axel protested and demanded answers up until his vision blurred and his eyelids grew too heavy to stay open. He lost consciousness under the Messenger's firm grip.

* * *

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

Do you know how I first met Roxas? It's probably not the kind of adventure you'd expect, even with all that omniscience of yours. I didn't hook up with him by choice. Heck, it wasn't even an "adventure". It was an over-glorified babysitting assignment that I _really_ didn't want.

After Sora had lost his heart, Xemnas fell on Roxas like a starved vulture that had just sworn off its New Year's resolution diet. He picked the kid clean, doing away with any unpleasant or inconvenient thoughts that would hinder the indoctrination process. After all, what's a self-righteous Keyblade master to an organization of ne'er-do-well Nobodies?

Well, aside from being a thorn in the hip, a wrench in the gears, and a mass-murderer of members—I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. If the kid was allowed to ask too many of the right questions, he'd have caught on that we weren't exactly the nicest gang of cutthroats in the neighborhood.

Needless to say, Xemnas needed a way to ensure the Keyblade would be used _for_ him and not _against_ him. You already know about the lying part—how we all kept the truth about Sora hidden from Roxas—but what you don't know is how and why I was jammed into this whole scheme. I was slapped as the kid's mentor for two reasons:

On the one hand, none of the higher-ups were available. The last thing they needed was to tote along the unwitting Keyblade master on some super-secret mission. The kid'd see the true face of the Organization in a heartbeat (no pun intended). You have no idea how many innocent grandmas Xigbar's gunned down just to harvest Dusks from terrified Junior Woodchucks trying to get their merit badges in street crossing. Training Roxas in _those_ kinds of conditions was rather counterproductive, and that's _all_ the brass ever did: harvest new recruits.

So what about the guys ranking below me? Most of them were under suspicion of planning a _coup_, which incidentally, they followed through with during the Castle Oblivion fiasco. Xemnas didn't trust jackals like Marluxia or Larxene with Roxas. So via the process of elimination, guess who the lucky winner of the Teach-Roxas-How-To-Swing-A-Stick Sweepstakes was!

But that's not the only reason. Roxas and I…we had something in common—something the scientist in Xemnas was keen to notice. Don't forget that before he became head honcho of Organization XIII, Xemnas used to be some squinting science nerd with a tacky taste in cravats. Part of the reason he stuck Roxas with me was to study our interaction. In essence, it was a type of experiment.

What was the point? You should already know; it's the reason I'm talking to you right now. What more need I say?

Xemnas's study proved fruitless in the end, however. We all know what happened to Roxas when Naminé came into play. But as for me? No one has a clue where I fit in. Maybe you do, but I'm not holding my breath that you'll spill the beans. A bunch of crazies like you will sooner implode the universe than reveal its many secrets.

Regardless of what's happened, I'm proud to have lived as I did—proud to have been Axel—even if half the time I wasn't technically alive or extant.

* * *

Jiminy awoke with a persistent ache running up and down his body. He had been flung out of Axel's ear upon impact with the ground below the cliff. Upon regaining his bearings, Jiminy jumped in horror. Axel's battered and dirtied body rested motionless next to the decaying carcass of the Manticore. The cricket ill had the time to straighten his hat before running and shouting with his hands up in the air.

"Axel! Wake up!" Jiminy bounded onto Axel's still chest and took a good look at the man's collective wounds. The arm stung by the scorpion tail had swelled and the area around the open wound had turned green. Various gashes and bruises covered the rest of Axel's exposed skin, and his clothes were tattered and crusted with dirt and dried blood.

Jiminy sniffled as he examined his friend with gloomy eyes. "Oh, Axel…" He took off his hat and held it to his chest as he bowed his head in silent prayer. "In the end, you were the most courageous and selfless of us all. You've sacrificed your own life to ensure the safety of your friends, even going so far as refraining from drinking a potion meant for—hey, wait a minute! That's it!"

With rekindled hope, Jiminy jumped back to the ground. He propped his top hat on his umbrella and set them off to the side before scurrying over towards Axel's pocket. After rolling up his sleeves and spitting into his palms, Jiminy dived into the pocket and mustered all his strength to fish out the mega-potion. The vial landed with a plop and rolled up against Axel's body.

Jiminy tried to then haul the vial up towards Axel's mouth, but it was too heavy to carry. It was like attempting to lug a tree up a mountain. Patting his sweating forehead with his handkerchief, Jiminy aimed for a new approach. He grabbed the cork with both hands and positioned his feet to push against the rim of the bottle. Jiminy pulled and tugged at the cork until his arms felt as if they would pop out of their sockets. But he refused to give up—not when Axel's life hung in the balance. With teeth gritted and sweat flying, Jiminy eventually yanked the cork clean off and the thick, clear potion spilled out like a waterfall.

Wasting little time, Jiminy grabbed his hat and filled it to the brim with potion. He then hurriedly ran up to Axel's poisoned wound, splashing it with the medicine. Although the few drops of mega-potion showed little effect, Jiminy refrained from thinking the worst: that Axel's body could no longer heal itself. He pressed on and repeated the process of filling his hat and splashing the wounds until finally, the gash scabbed over and the green hue dissipated. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, Jiminy gave his feet a jolly little click before hauling a hatful of potion up to Axel's parted lips. He chucked the potion into the man's mouth, and after a few more drops of potion, Jiminy heard the most joyous sound of all: Axel's gasp for air.

Jiminy continued feeding Axel the potion until the bottle ran dry, which didn't take too long as most of the potion spilled and seeped into the dirt. What little did make it into Axel's system was enough to give him a fighting chance.

Many hours passed, and Jiminy stayed close to Axel. He at one point wanted to go search for water or some food, but his small stature meant it would take him too long to travel any significant distance and return within a reasonable amount of time. So he nestled himself next to Axel's ear and talked to him even if he was unconscious. Jiminy told Axel all about the Blue Fairy and the important job he was given as Pinocchio's conscience; about how his world fell into darkness and how King Mickey offered him refuge and a helping hand in finding Pinocchio; and about how his interim job as Royal Chronicler led him to meet Donald and Goofy.

Jiminy continued to talk even when his throat ran dry, believing that if he stopped, Axel would lose his way. He pushed on in his scratchy, cracking voice until he couldn't produce any more intelligible words. The last sound he made was a yelp as Axel's eyes twitched and slowly opened. Parched to the bone, Jiminy could only whistle in jubilation as Axel took in a deep breath of air.

"I had the strangest dream…" he muttered as he raised his head. He caught one glimpse of the Manticore and groaned. "Damn, it wasn't a dream." Letting out a sigh, he took in a damage report. "I feel like I was swallowed by Hell only to be spat back out." The mega-potion did the most patchwork on his poisoned wound, but his other cuts and bruises ached like crazy.

Axel winced as he tried to get back to his feet. Sharp pain shot up his abdomen, so he decided to sit for a while. He set his shaking, wounded hand down where it bumped across the emptied mega-potion vial. "How the heck did this get here? And it's opened?" He picked it up and upended it over his tongue, shaking out a negligible drop. "I could've _really_ have used this." It was then he noticed the odd noise coming from his shoulder. It sounded like a hoarse fly whining right up against his ear. "Oh, hey; it's just you, Cricket," he said with a glance to the side where Jiminy sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes. "What's the matter? Allergies or something?"

Jiminy blew his nose several times into his handkerchief. "I'm just…so happy…" he replied in his raspy voice.

It didn't take long for Axel to put two and two together. With a small smile, he set the potion vial to the side. "Geez, Cricket, you sound worse than I feel. Let's get you some water or something." Gritting his teeth, Axel again tried to stand. The pain in his torso was immense, but he refused to lie around like an invalid. He bit back his screams, only letting a few grunts get passed him as he forced himself upright. All the while, Jiminy was jumping up and down in a frenzy trying to shout: "No, don't!" Axel staggered a bit, but managed to steady himself.

"There, that wasn't…too hard," he said through clenched teeth. He paused a moment to give the Manticore the once-over. "Why the heck didn't this stupid thing fade back into a heart?"

Jiminy shrugged and jotted the note down in his journal for future reference. But before closing his book, he got a new idea. He flipped to a clean page and wrote a note to show Axel: "What stopped the monster?"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," said Axel after reading the note. He staggered over to the Manticore and summoned a chakram. With a swift flick of the wrist, Axel cut the beast open and carefully leaned over. Every muscle in his torso burned as he yanked Goofy's battered shield free from the monster's windpipe. "That bloodthirsty bonehead was so gung-ho to suck out my brains that he sucked _this_ in like a vacuum cleaner."

After scorching the shield to purify it, Axel strapped it back to his arm. "Guess we should try to find that river again, huh?" he wondered aloud.

Jiminy nodded.

"No way I'm climbing back up the cliff, though." Axel took a moment to gauge his surroundings. Aside from the cliff he had tumbled from, there was nothing but forest as far as the eye could see. After a moment's deliberation, Axel set forth on a path. "Let's try to find a way around the cliff; maybe there's a path or something."

And so Axel and Jiminy hobbled along the rim of the mountain in search of water, food, and a path back to Sora. Into the dark jungle they disappeared with only their unwavering perseverance to guide them.

* * *

I started this chapter a while back but didn't like the flow too much. I experimented with several setups, including the structure and content of the Axel excerpt as well as the overall message of the chapter. I had originally intended to touch upon the Resistance subplot again, but I've decided to move that to a different chapter.

As a side note, I've become addicted to Mass Effect 3 multiplayer. If anyone's interested in playing a couple of rounds, message me.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

After enduring a hellish surprise attack by the Heartless, the army camp saw a new day, and with it, began the formal training of the new recruits. All throughout the night, the men worked hard to restore the camp to its proper order, and though they slept rather poorly—or not at all in some cases—the morning horn still sounded off at the crack of dawn. Captain Li refused to let the enemy shake his resolve and vowed to push his men hard to prepare them for the war looming in their future.

When he heard the captain rallying the troops from their tents, Sora had already been up for a few hours. Nightmares plagued his slumber, forcing him from his sleeping bag where he had wandered to the medical tent to check in on Goofy. To his surprise, he found Donald slumped in a chair next to his buddy.

"I never pegged Donald as the compassionate companion," Sora thought as he idled in the entrance for a bit before venturing elsewhere. Part of him wanted to stay beside Goofy as well, but at the same time, his guilt deterred him. The inability to masterfully wield the Keyblade resulted in his friends' injuries and the deaths of many—perhaps even Axel. But he didn't want to think about that; he wanted to believe General Li made it in time to save him.

So off into the cool night Sora wandered, eventually finding his way to a guard post where he helped keep watch until dawn. When Shang called for pre-breakfast warm-ups, Sora met up with Mulan, whose lips were covered with rice.

"I thought we weren't supposed to eat yet," he said.

"How could you tell?" she replied with reddening cheeks, to which Sora picked a stray grain of rice from the corner of her mouth. With a gasp, Mulan quickly brushed her face clean, earning the eye from Yao as he passed. "Better?"

Sora nodded.

"It's all Mushu's fault. He ambushed me with his 'Happy Rice n' Eggs' porridge. When I opened my mouth to protest, he shoved it all right in."

As the line moved up, Sora fought to suppress his laughter.

At the front of the line lay a pile of short, but wide and heavy logs. The recruits each picked up a log and were instructed to run three laps around the camp while carrying it. Sora grabbed his log with a grunt. His knees trembled as he tried to maintain hold of it, but he could barely inch his way forward let alone jog. Mulan didn't fair any better. Even with her breakfast boost, she lacked the strength to haul the log the whole distance.

"Put your backs into it!" shouted Shang. His attempts to spur the men did them little good. Most averaged half a lap before collapsing from exhaustion, and Sora and Mulan couldn't even manage that.

Shang shook his head in shame and sighed. "This is going to take a while…"

"You may wish to start them out with a more rudimentary activity," Gen suggested.

"Looks like it's back to the basics of the basics." Shang signaled the gong and called for a meal break while he went to prepare the next training exercise.

Everyone got a bowl of cold, sticky rice topped with one egg. Some men pulled all the muscles in their arms and could barely maneuver their chopsticks. Chien-Po managed to eat a hearty helping of fourths and fifths by polishing off whatever the others couldn't finish.

Sora let out a sigh as picked at the few grains stuck at the bottom of his bowl. Despite the ache in his shoulders and lower back, he couldn't stop thinking about his friends.

"Ahyuck, don't look so down!" Goofy would probably say.

"It's like I can hear him right now," Sora thought with another sigh.

"If you keep frownin' like that, mister, it'll stay that way!"

"Yeah, Goofy _would_ say that. …I think."

"Of course I'd say that, ahyuck! In fact, I just did. Unless I'm sleep walking to the moon again… I never did find out how many cups of sugar it takes to get there."

"Huh?" Sora's eyes went wide and he hurriedly swung around to see Goofy in thoughtful contemplation. "Goofy!" Forgetting the tenderness in his arms, Sora all but tackled his pal to the ground with a big hug.

"Gawrsh, it's good to see you, too. Ahyuck!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better! Donald patched me up real nice after he got a good night's sleep."

"That's great," Sora said in relief. "Speaking of Donald, where is he?" He didn't need long to receive an answer as the air filled with the all-too-familiar enraged quacks of his companion.

"You stole my egg!" Donald shouted at Ling.

"Did not!" Ling contended, holding his bowl up high where the duck couldn't reach.

"You did, too, you big, lousy nincompoop! Now give it back!"

"This is _my_ egg and _I'm_ gonna eat it!" Ling tilted his bowl to slide the egg into his mouth but was jabbed hard in the gut by the butt-end of Donald's staff. The bowl flew out of his hands and the egg slid out where it landed straight into Chien-Po's open mouth.

"The heavens are certainly smiling on me today!" he mused while dabbing a napkin at his lips.

"My egg!" Ling cried.

"Phooey!" Donald kicked the ground with a huff and wandered off to snatch an egg elsewhere.

Sora watched the events unfold in shame. "All that just for an egg?"

"Magic takes a lot out of the fella," Goofy explained.

"That doesn't justify stealing other people's food."

"Didn't say it did." Goofy picked up his own bowl and chased after Donald to fork over his own portions.

Some time passed, and after eating a legitimate breakfast, Mulan felt too stuffed to move.

"Why didn't you just skip it?" Sora asked.

"They'd get suspicious," she replied, conscious of Yao's eyes still on her from the other side of the camp. "Have to do whatever it takes to fit in."

"I don't think anyone would notice if you didn't eat a bowl of rice."

"You'd be surprised." Mulan took a quick glance over at Yao, who, after losing his meal to Donald's sticky fingers, was singing some chant with Chien-Po that calmed him a bit. "So what do you think we'll have to do next?" she said to change the subject.

Sora's eyes dimmed. "Whatever it is, I hope it's not more heavy lifting."

"I hear you on that."

Soon, Shang reemerged and signaled for the gong ending breakfast.

"Okay, soldiers! Round up for another three laps around the camp, this time through the obstacle course!"

Shang set up a basic course with a couple of nets to crawl under, a rope to swing across planks, and a bunch of pylons to zig-zag through. He ran the course first to demonstrate how he expected the others to complete it, though even teaching by example couldn't improve the results of Day One's training. The recruits got themselves tangled within the nets, dropped from the rope, and dizzied from the running around the pylons. The only one to complete the course successfully was Sora, who finished with flying colors.

"That was amazing!" said Mulan as she bandaged her rope-burned hands. "How did you do that so flawlessly?"

"It was nothing," said Sora with a bashful rub of his neck. "It's kind of like the island I used to play on back home."

"Phooey!" Donald scoffed. "What does fumbling around a playground have to do with fighting Heartless?"

"It's training, Donald," Goofy tried to explain, but his buddy would hear nothing of it.

"The only kind of training we need is how to best lop the little heads off those Shadows!"

As he watched the men recover from the simple course, Shang tossed off his shirt, and with a flex of his well-toned muscles, picked up a pole with two buckets of water attached to either end. "Next drill!" he shouted. "We're going jogging up the mountain pass. Everyone grab a pole and hop to it!" He darted off for the path, showing the men what was expected of them. A loud, collective groan filled the air as the recruits filed in to get their gear and jog after the captain. The group managed to get to the mountain, though most collapsed before venturing onto the pass itself.

Before the day was out, Shang instructed the recruits in a wide variety of drills including martial arts, swimming, and archery. By nightfall, everyone collapsed from fatigue with their bodies bruised and sore. Sunrise came too soon, and before they knew it, the men were back on their aching feet running the same drills.

* * *

Miles away from the camp, Axel stumbled about the forest trying to find his way back to the river. With all his injuries, however, his progression slowed to a snail's pace. Even worse, Jiminy suffered from severe dehydration, and Axel knew he had to find water fast. The once green cricket turned pale and his skin shriveled like a raisin. But with no river in sight, their options were limited.

"There's got to be _some_ kind of water around here!" Axel thought. "If only it'd rain… No, that'd probably be enough to kill me in this state." He darted his sights around the forest, but saw nothing aside from trees and the odd monkey scrambling through the bushes. As he studied the flora, however, an idea struck him. With his good arm, he reached above and snagged a couple of leaves from a looming branch.

"Here, eat these," he said as he ripped the leaves into small, consumable bits for Jiminy. "Plants suck in water like there's no tomorrow, so they've gotta be full of the stuff, right?"

Willing to try anything out of desperation, Jiminy crunched down on the leaves and sucked them dry. He spat out the dry remnants and repeated the process. After chewing several branches worth of leaves, Jiminy was hydrated enough to speak again.

"Thanks for that quick thinking," he said with his voice still hoarse.

"Can't have you kicking the bucket just yet, Cricket. My morale'd probably follow you."

"Any sign of civilization yet?"

"Do monkeys count?"

A red-faced, grey-haired monkey scurried past them and climbed up a nearby tree. Its eyes settled on Axel, and it grunted a couple of times.

"What's the matter, Tarzan—never seen a guy with red hair before?" Axel jibed.

The monkey ooked and grunted some more, its gaze training Axel as he started walking again.

"We need to find a decent supply of water and food soon," said Jiminy.

"You don't need to tell me twice. I feel like the living dead at this point. I'm surprised my limbs aren't falling off as I go."

"If only we had more potions…"

Axel shook his head. "Do you have any idea how many of those things I've had in the last couple of days alone? Drinking any more would be counterproductive at this point."

"How so?"

"Geez, Cricket, don't you know how potions work?"

"Enlighten me." Jiminy opened a page in his journal and prepared to jot down notes.

"Well, I suppose a science lesson would take my mind off the stabbing pains in my gut," Axel sighed. "Whenever you get hurt, your body draws on a storage of nutrients to help patch itself up. But the process can take a while. Potions speed the whole thing up by making your body absorb and redistribute proteins faster. The higher the grade of potion, the faster it speeds up your system."

"And the drawbacks?"

"To patch up the wounded area faster, your body takes nutrients away from healthier tissue. Normally, this is negligible. You take a potion and you'll feel like a million bucks. But if you stack too many potions without eating or sleeping—like I've been doing—the body can't replenish its stocks fast enough and it starts to break down. Worst-case scenario: death by potion. Not something I want reflected in _my_ obituary, thank you very much."

"How fascinating." Jiminy grew quiet and scribbled in his journal for a good while. He made several spelling errors due to a dehydration-induced headache, but made a messy note to transcribe everything neatly later. "However did you come to learn all this?"

Axel shrugged. "Used to hang out with a bunch of scientists. Their idea of fun was getting together to bicker and blab about stuff like that."

"Scientists you say? Did you work in some sort of lab, or…?"

"You could say that—not that I liked it much, mind you. When my ears were chewed off enough, I'd ditch them and run off to get ice cream."

Jiminy hummed and jotted more notes. Both he and Axel were in such a disoriented state from their numerous ailments that they ill paid attention to what they said or wrote. Axel's loose lips went all over the place, and the chronicler swapped his dutiful note taking for doodling. They chatted about all sorts of inane things as they aimlessly wandered about the forest until Axel couldn't take another step. He ran out of energy in a meadow populated by a group of pandas. The pandas sat lazily chewing chutes of bamboo, watching with indifference as Axel stumbled over a rock and fell face-first into a patch of grass.

"The tank's empty, Cricket," he mumbled through a mouthful of dirt. "Can't go any further."

"You just need some food. Why don't we ask those fellas if they wouldn't mind sharing some of theirs?"

Axel spat the tuft a grass to the side. "What 'fellas'?"

"Why, those portly youngsters over there, of course!" Jiminy said while pointing at the pandas.

"Cricket, those are bears."

"Now, Axel; what have I told you about manners? It's rude to say such things! They may just be big-boned or have poor dieting skills. Either way, it's not your place to judge."

"You're hallucinating. Go suck on some more leaves."

Jiminy ignored Axel as he bounced over towards the pandas and attempted to negotiate for their bamboo. "Hiya, fellas. I've noticed that you're in the middle of a feast, and was wondering if you would be so kind as to part with a humble portion. You see, my friend and I have suffered through a devastating battle and are simply famished."

The pandas continued to chew their bamboo in total serenity, completely unfazed by the cricket's chirping pleas. No matter what he said or what diagrams he drew in his journal to demonstrate the proportion between a balanced meal and a healthy physique, they masticated without a care in the world, pausing every so often only to swallow.

While Jiminy continued to make his case to the Buddha-like pandas, Axel started to doze off with his head using the grass as a makeshift pillow. The pain pulsating through his body pricked him like icicles impaling him from all ends, and the acid bubbling in his empty stomach made it impossible to ignore his hunger any longer. His body did the only thing it could: shut down to preserve energy. Axel fell asleep for what seemed like seconds to him, but when he opened his eyes, the position of the sun told him otherwise. A sudden jerk to the shoulder had roused him from his much-needed slumber.

Axel rolled his bloodshot eye up to see the face of an elderly man gazing down on him. He didn't understand what was going on and a dozen questions rolled out of his mouth without his knowledge or recollection. Somehow, he wound up back onto his feet and was guided to rest in a haystack aboard a cart before passing out again. The next time he opened his eyes, Axel was lying in a soft bed with all his wounds bandaged. Next to the bed stood a small, wooden table with a bowl of rice, a cup of cooled tea, and a jug of water.

"What happened?" Axel grumbled as he blinked the haze from his eyes.

"You're awake!" Jiminy sprung out from the jug where he had been practicing his breaststroke. A healthy green complexion had returned to him and all the wrinkles from earlier disappeared without a trace.

"How long was I out?"

"Several days. Some nice folks riding to town found you and brought you home with them." Jiminy patted himself dry, hiding his reddening face behind the towel. "I almost didn't make it in time. I, uh—heh—was a little too enthusiastic talking to those bears."

Axel smirked. "Manners, Jiminy. For all you know, they could've had a condition."

"Aha, indeed." Jiminy cleared his throat and nodded towards the rice bowl. "Care for a snack?"

Before Axel could reach for the bowl, a little, old woman shuffled into the room with a teapot in one hand and bandages slung around the other. "Ah, you're awake," she said as she approached the bed. "Fortune had smiled upon you, stranger. With the highways closed, my husband and brother were forced to take a detour through the forest." She changed Axel's dressings and poured him some new, hot tea. Though small and bowed, she retained a great, powerful aura that Axel could feel pulsating from her. She may have been in her nineties, but her presence was that of someone far younger and full of life.

"Thanks for patching me up," said Axel. Although his body still ached, it didn't hurt to breathe as much as earlier and his stomach no longer felt like a bomb ready to explode. He introduced himself, and upon inquiry, explained his battle against the Heartless, though omitted anything too graphic.

"So you are a soldier in the army, then?"

"Something like that. I'm part of a different faction, so to speak."

Though she didn't quite understand, the old woman didn't press the issue. "Here, drink some of this; it will help restore your strength." She lifted the cup of tea to Axel's lips and tilted it for him to drink. It was textured and bitter, but Axel didn't have the luxury of spitting it out with old woman pressing the cup so firm against his mouth.

"There you go!" The old woman set the emptied cup on the table and poured a second kind of tea into it. "Now drink this at your leisure and I will return later with more medicine." She left Axel to rest, though the moment she was out of earshot, he scrambled to get out of bed.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Jiminy asked in a reprimanding tone.

"I've been lying around long enough. The way those Heartless were multiplying, half the world's probably crawling with them by now."

"You need your rest! You're no good to anyone if you collapse again."

"I'll rest later." Axel wrestled himself free from the super tight covers keeping him pinned and rolled onto the floor with a thud. He found it more difficult to move than he had previously realized. The searing pain returned to his chest, and the bicep injured by the scorpion tail twitched and burned under the bandages. Axel swallowed an upcoming yelp and forced himself to his feet. He ignored Jiminy's protests and made for the door when it slid open and two older men with grey hair grabbed him. They hauled him back to bed and buried him under the covers.

"It's too soon for you to be moving around," said one of the men.

"I know you must be eager to fight for your honor, but what's honor when you're dead?" said the other.

Axel didn't have the energy to retaliate any longer. He figured if he couldn't even strong-arm a couple of old fogies, the Heartless would run circles around him. With little resistance, the older men forced some more tea down his throat. They waited around a bit, occasionally giving him more tea until his eyelids grew heavy and his head fell limp on the pillow.

* * *

A couple weeks of crammed, non-stop training passed, and Sora and his friends turned into walking incarnations of pain. Their chests burned from the constant, strenuous running and their muscles locked and ached with tension. Shang added more to the obstacle course and timed each recruit's ability to complete it five times through. Weapons training intensified, though Sora and his friends were forced to train with Shang's equipment.

"If you can't wield a stick, you can't wield a Keyblade," he'd say to Sora. To Donald, it was "broom" and "staff"; for Goofy, it was "barrel lid" and "shield".

And so they practiced with their stick, broom, and barrel lid—nine times out of ten, their weapons either went flying or snapped in two. On a good day, they'd face defeat with their weapons still in their clutch. Despite their victorious battles in Traverse Town, the gang found it difficult to go toe-to-toe with an experienced soldier like Captain Li. He bested them all, even when they charged him simultaneously.

"Your footwork is sloppy!" he'd shout while smacking them in the legs. "Fix that posture! Bend those knees! Coil that elbow!"

A word of praise never crossed Shang's lips, but the most negative of his verbal abuse fell on Mulan. Although she wasn't the best recruit, Mushu "helping" her train didn't win her any brownie points with the captain. The guardian dragon did everything in his power to give Mulan an edge—everything but let her learn the legitimate way. When Mulan had to shoot an apple with an arrow, Mushu would provide a pre-impaled apple; when she needed to grab a fish from a rushing stream with her bare hands, he'd give her some fish pre-caught fish. His crafty antics didn't go unnoticed, and although his involvement remained unknown, Mulan suffered the consequences in full.

"One more screw up from you, and it's a dishonorable discharge!" Shang had threatened.

Despite the harshness of the training, it was not without merit. With each passing day, Sora's confidence and endurance grew. He could finally hoist the log over his shoulder and run laps, and his sparing technique excelled far beyond his expectations. He felt lighter on his feet and his body moved as fluid as water.

Donald learned to channel his magic by calming his mind—a technique he picked up after Shang forced him to meditate under a waterfall for three days and three nights. The new focus of his powers allowed him to conjure more precise and devastating spells. On the other hand, Goofy's shield performance increased tenfold. He mastered training in both light and heavy shields, resulting in the ultimate defensive strategy he felt confident would protect his allies from any assault.

The others toughened up as well, scoring better times on the obstacle course and hiking greater distances with heavier loads. After saving Yao from nearly plummeting to his doom upon slipping on some ill-placed rice along the mountain pass (Mushu was never allowed near the food stocks again), Mulan gained the trust and friendship of Yao and his cohorts. They helped each other out, and through solid teamwork, aced every test Shang threw at them. She fit in as one of the guys and no one was ever the wiser. Before long, the recruits had transformed from sluggish, hotheaded greenhorns to professional, disciplined soldiers.

"You've done a fine job molding these men," Gen complimented the captain one evening in his tent. The two were sitting around a map of the region sipping tea and going over battle strategies.

"They've come a long way. I can only hope they prove their skill when it counts," Shang replied.

"The Keybearer, too, has profited from your training. There's a different aura about him. He now holds his head high to the heavens whereas he once slouched behind a wall of doubt."

"It's true. I once sensed in him an air of uncertainty. He's more focused now—driven to fulfill his role."

Gen hummed and slurped his tea. "To think the prophecy will be fulfilled here—in China! This will bring great honor to the Emperor."

"You may find honor in those fairy tales, Gen, but the reality is that a mere boy alone—regardless of his power—won't win this war single-handedly."

"I've suggested nothing of the sort, Captain. However, the Keyblade is necessary to end the greatest war of all."

Shang narrowed his eyes. "_The greatest war of all_?"

Gen gave a tiny smirk and leaned in close, twirling his black beard around his long index finger. "The Huns are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, Shang," he said in a hushed voice. "Humanity has been enveloped in a far greater war for many centuries now, and the sun is finally about to set on the true enemy."

After taking a moment to swirl his tea, Shang shook his head and chuckled. "I guess it's true what they say: spin tales long enough and you'll get tangled in your own web."

"You think I'm mad."

"The only wars ever to reach China involved the Huns. This one's no different."

"Don't be so quick to believe the Huns are acting of their own volition."

"So now it's a conspiracy, eh, Gen?"

Gen harrumphed and downed the rest his tea in a single gulp, slamming the cup on the table. "You'll see the light one day, Shang. I can only pray it won't be too late for you by then."

"Alright, enough of that." Shang refilled Gen's cup and returned focus to the map. "Let's review the plan one more time…"

* * *

Outside Captain Li's tent, Sora and his companions sat around a campfire recounting tales from their training. They laughed and joked while reminiscing about their hardships and triumphs. But halfway through the fun, Sora grew disinterested and excused himself. He wandered towards the outskirts of the camp and looked up at the big moon in the nighttime sky.

"Sora?" Mulan ventured up from the trail and settled next to him. "Is something the matter?"

It took a moment for Sora to break his silence. He feared voicing his thoughts would somehow turn conjecture into truth. "We've been here for close to three weeks now," he said. "In all this time, I haven't heard a single word about Axel."

"The friend you lost track of?"

Sora shifted his weight and nodded. "You would think that if the army ran into him, they'd send him this way."

"Maybe they didn't know where to direct him. This is a large world and you could've been anywhere. He's probably traveling with the army right now hoping to find you on some battlefield."

"I thought that too… But now, I'm not so sure."

"What changed your mind?"

"I can't stop turning over the facts in my head. Axel knew about Gen—he knew the mission objective. Wouldn't his best chance of finding me be through Gen, knowing that I'd have to look for him, too?"

"Well—"

"And then there's General Li, who's a blood-relative of Captain Li."

"His father."

"Right. Wouldn't the captain have received notice from his own father? I haven't seen a single letter delivered here aside from ones stamped by the Imperial Court."

"But we don't know that for sure; they're confidential."

Sora let out a shaky sigh. "I've been asking Shang every day if he's heard word from the general, but I always get the same answer: 'He's most likely in a compromising state and can't send word out.'"

Mulan thought for a moment. "I can see how that'd be suspicious. It's been weeks now; he should have managed to send at least one letter with a status report."

"I think…" Sora clenched his fists and folded them under his arms, "there's a good chance the Heartless overpowered the army."

"Then we should tell Shang."

"What if he won't do anything?"

"We won't know until we try. Come on." Mulan started marching back to camp.

"Right now?" Sora sputtered.

"No time like the present."

Sora hurried after her and the two went straight for the captain's tent. However, just as Sora had feared, Shang declined any form of action.

"Our job is to guard the mountain pass," he declared. "Until I receive orders from either the general or the Imperial Court, we remain here and that's final." After hearing an earful of heated arguments from Mulan, ordered everyone out of the tent with the threat of dishonored discharges.

"I knew he wouldn't listen," Sora sulked.

"That's only 'cuz you didn't do it right." Mushu sprung up from under a wok and shimmied over to the two disheartened soldiers.

"I know that look," said Mulan. "What are you scheming this time, Mushu?"

A devious smile stretched across the guardian dragon's face as he rubbed his claws together. "Girl, we need to get you to see some action or else you're _never_ gonna bring honor to the Fa family! And what better way to beat you up some Huns and rack up the glory than to tag-team with a renowned general? You just leave it to me, and I'll make you a decorated war hero in no time!" In a flash, Mushu scurried off to put his plans into motion.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" Mulan wondered.

Sora just sighed and again gazed up at the moon, wondering if Axel was in a position to see it, too.

* * *

Halfway across China, Axel was lying in bed playing a game of Chinese checkers with Jiminy, the old woman, her husband, and her brother. His most dire injuries had healed a great deal, but the family looking after him still insisted that he continued to rest. After persisting relentlessly, Axel managed to reach an accord regarding his discharge from their makeshift hospital. When he could do a full day's worth of chores without collapsing, they would allow him freedom. During the checkers game, he made it known that the following day he wished to attempt the housework.

"You can start by shoveling manure," said the husband after losing to Axel for a fifth time.

At the crack of dawn, Axel rolled out of bed and started on the work. He performed a wide variety of jobs around the farm and house: tending to the animals, piling the hay, cooking all three major meals, and cleaning every inch of the property from the barn to the bedrooms. Though he felt the occasional tingle of pain from his bruises, he managed to fulfill all of his duties without losing his balance or growing dizzy.

However, he didn't leave the next day. He took one more day to stretch out his muscles and get a feel for how his body would hold up in combat. After jogging around the farm and practicing with his chakrams, he believed himself ready to once again challenge the Heartless. But there was one more thing he needed to do before leaving the farm.

"Teach me how to ride a horse," he asked the husband, and the two spent the rest of the day galloping around the property.

Upon the day of Axel's departure, the old woman had prepared him a basket of food with two canteens of water. The family parted with one of their two horses, which Axel was reluctant to accept.

"He was supposed to go into war anyhow," the husband insisted.

They also gifted Axel with a new set of armor since his old clothing was tattered and bloodstained. When he donned the traditional Chinese military armor, the old woman excused herself in tears.

"Belonged to my nephew," her brother explained. "The day he was conscripted, he got killed on the highway en route to the camp. He didn't get too far. One of the neighbors guided the horse back with his body still hunched on the saddle."

"Make those cursed Huns pay, eh?" added the husband. "These pointless wars have to end. There's no honor in senseless bloodshed!"

"Don't worry; I've got a friend who'll put a stop to all this," Axel assured them. "Thanks for everything." He bade them farewell and galloped off into the forest.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Take a planet—any one in the sea of space—and look to its surface. The shapes and contours of their geographies vary, but one thing can be said of all planets: they harbor life on their soil. Some are green with forests, others blue with fish-filled oceans; there are cities, towns, and villages populated by all sorts of people. Life spans across the whole of the universe and teems along the surface of each planet.

But if one were to look only at the surface, a most important piece of the puzzle would slip through the cracks of even the most astute observer. After the arrival of the Heartless, more life could be found underground than anywhere else. Where better to avoid the all-seeing eye of the wicked Order than in a place already steeped in shadows?

The underground shadows, however, were not a haven. Darkness is darkness even when lacking the witch's taint. The Underground Resistance Movement spearheaded by the survivors of the war found no rest from the evil lurking around every corner. At any moment of any day, a Resistance agent could be compromised. Safety was always an illusion.

* * *

In the Zero District of Traverse Town, the moogles in Cid's garage flew around as if their pompoms were on fire. The second Paine's ship docked, the engineers went straight to work on fitting the extra engines for its departure to Sector 50. Halfway through one of Cid's welding jobs, the zippy moogle from the Com Room smacked right into Cid and sent his blowtorch flying.

"The heck's your problem?" Cid snapped. He lifted his visor and flicked his nose. "You could've cooked one of your pals up for brunch!" A team of moogles safely recovered the blowtorch and returned it to Cid's hands.

"Sorry, kupo! But there's an urgent message!" The zippy moogle floated back into the air and circled around Cid's head. "Agent 77's found a breech! Agent 77's found a breech! Kupopo!"

"The _heck_?" Cid smacked the moogle out of the way and shoved the blowtorch into the hands of a moogle already carrying a heavy load. The overtaxed engineer fell to the ground and was forced to drag his tools to the site. "Keep working!" Cid barked and then stormed off for the Com Room. Inside, a pair of moogles typed away at their terminals to clear up an incoming radio message.

"_Hello, hello? Can anyone hear me? Central, please respond!"_

Cid took to a nearby terminal and pulled up the information for Agent 77. "This is Highwind," he said, taking up the mic. "What's your verification code?"

"_Seventy-seven bottles of Tchita Wine without seventy-seven chocobos."_

"Right, got'cha. What's the problem, Biggs?"

"_Channel 5 is broadcasting an encrypted message regarding the Keyblade."_

"Before you say anything else—it's been found. The Key's with us."

"_I'm not questioning the validity of the message; the problem is it's been intercepted and the encryption broken."_

Cid gritted his teeth. "The heck do you mean _broken_? That's not possible!"

"_It is and it happened. I don't have much time, but you have to recall the Key. It's very urgent that he does not remain in China! I've detailed it in the report I'm compiling, but right now you need to know about—" _

Static blew out of the speakers. The occasional fragmented word came through but the rest was unintelligible.

"Fix that!" Cid roared, and his moogles went into overdrive trying to clear the frequency.

"…_mass-murdering them to fuel…will manipulate the Keyblade…Amalgam…"_

The line went dead.

"Get him back, ASAP!"

"We can't, kupo," replied one of the technicians. "His signal's lost."

"Go through a different channel! Bypass the interference!"

"It's not interference, kupo. The signal's not transmitting. The line's been cut, kupo."

"Then patch me into the switchboard."

"We can't, kupo. Intelligence took it offline. They're rerouting the switchboard's power to interfere with enemy signals in Sector 50."

"The whole darned thing?"

"Kupopo."

"That's ludicrous! I was just talking to Basch not more than half a day ago!"

"They're busy bees for sure, kupo."

"Heh, things just keep getting better and better, don't they?" Cid took a deep breath and set down the mic. He clenched a fist at his side where it trembled more and more with each passing moment. Using his free hand on the nearby terminal, he punched in a few commands and patched into the Third District base emergency phone. "Come on…pick up, pick up!"

After ten rings, Cid was ready to call it quits when Leon's terse voice answered.

"_What?"_

"Listen, kiddo; we've got a problem. One of our boys just called to say our encryption's been cracked. Someone out there knows about the Key."

"_It was only a matter of time. That all?"_

"Do you know what job Biggs is working? He called here 'cuz Intelligence's offline, but his message went snowy halfway through. Sounded real bad. I need the details."

Leon replied with a simple "no", which coming from him meant: "I wasn't the one who assigned his mission, so I don't know any of the details."

"Dagnabbit!" After flicking his nose hard enough to draw blood, Cid turned to his moogle techs. "I don't suppose we have any residential files on 77?" He knew it was a long shot, but his options pool held slim pickin's at this point.

"Sorry, Chief. You know we only have comprehensive data on local agents."

"Bah!"

"_Has Biggs been compromised?"_

"Too little info to tell, but he made some mention of mass-murders."

"_Unless he needs the ERT, there's nothing I can do."_

"The Emergency Response Team, eh? Might not be a bad idea to send 'em for the hell of it."

"_It's a waste of resources without confirmation, regardless of the fact that we don't know his location."_

Cid wiped away a stream of blood that flowed down his chin from his wounded nose. "What the heck's _Amalgam_? Any ideas?"

"_I don't know." _With that, Leon hung up, implying that Cid should find out the details and report back later.

After muttering some unintelligible words under his breath, Cid bandaged his nose and headed back for the ship. "Not much else I can do without Intelligence. Tell me the second the switchboard's back up," he ordered his techs.

"Roger that, Chief! Kupopo!"

As he trudged past the overtaxed moogle, Cid grabbed his blowtorch and slid his visor back over his face. The moogles were making excellent time on the ship. With two engines already in place and the third one loaded against the frame, the enhancements were nearing their completion. But he found it difficult to concentrate. Bigg's message troubled him.

"The Heartless are always blowing up worlds. Isn't that mass-murder? Just what was that boy getting at…?"

Without access to the intel, the fragmented message would remain a murky mystery. Flooding his thoughts with circuitry and aeronautics architecture, Cid rode a lift up to the third engine and flipped on his blowtorch. Retrieving the_ Perennial Texts_ took precedence for now.

* * *

Snowy mountains towered in the distance of the Chinese Imperial Capital. Though the lands below basked in the warmth and light of the sun, dark clouds loomed over the mountain peaks. A storm was brewing, but no one in the Royal Court noticed or cared. They were safe in the sunshine, and to the best of their knowledge, no humans called the mountains home.

Yet at the crown of one particular mountain, a man wearing a heavy coat and goggles stomped through the snow towards a hidden cave. Inside, sheets of metal plated the rock and a sizeable engine rested off to the side of a large platform. The man removed his goggles and walked to the center of the platform where he pressed a switch. The engine purred accompanied by the sound of creaking metal as the platform jolted to life and began its descent into a large tunnel burrowed deep within the mountain.

The elevator stopped miles below the ground in an advanced laboratory populated with a dozen scientists. Metal panels lined the rock, and whatever wildlife once called the cave their home had been exterminated. The various technological instruments walled against the cave emitted an electric blue light and pulsated with power from a nearby generator. Tables fashioned into a square in the centermost space held everything from telescopes to beakers, and in the very back behind several layered panes of trauma-resistant glass stood several large tubes filled with green liquid. Suspended in most of the tubes were naked, unconscious Chinese natives.

As he walked through the lab, the man removed his coat and signaled a nearby aide.

"Yes, Mr. Biggs?"

"The Colonel will be here in five minutes," said Biggs as he tossed his coat and goggles to his aide. "Make the necessary preparations."

"Yessir!" After hanging up his boss's apparel, the aide scurried off to alert the rest of the base.

Meanwhile, Biggs went into a nearby lounge and made a beeline for the coffee pot. There were a couple of tables set up against the side wall holding crumb-ridden plates and emptied glasses. A custodian wearing a grey uniform cleared away the leftovers and mopped the floor where someone had spilled their drink. A high collar and the shadow from his matching cap hid his face.

As Biggs poured his coffee, he overfilled the mug and sent the java spilling all over the counter. The custodian stood his mop against the wall and went to the new mess with rag in hand. Biggs didn't flinch as the custodian came up close to him and slapped the rag over the puddle of coffee. He took a casual sip of the lukewarm java that filled his cup to the brim while tinker around with his PDA. The screen read _Connection Failed_ no matter how many times he flicked his thumb across the touchscreen.

"Do you have any jam?" Biggs asked.

"The brass loves their jam," the custodian muttered. "They added extra to their meals after you left, sir."

Biggs hummed and pocketed his PDA. "How's the cleaning going?"

"Almost spotless."

"Almost?"

Still looking at the counter, the custodian stopped blotting the coffee. "Someone saw me without my cap, sir."

All the color drained from Biggs' face. He looked straight at the custodian. "Run."

"It's too late, sir. They're in silent lockdown." The custodian sighed and continued washing the counter. "You'd best go now, sir. The Colonel will be here soon."

Although his feet felt like cement blocks, Biggs pushed off the counter and dragged himself to the door.

"Wait, sir. You forgot your coffee." The custodian handed Biggs a new mug and then returned his focus to the mess.

Without a second glance at the custodian, Biggs walked out towards his office. Behind the closed door, he yanked a small piece of paper out from the empty mug and unfolded it. A set of numbers was scrawled in tiny print across the full length of the paper. Squeezed at the very bottom in almost illegible print were the words: _Plz tell Zone sorry_.

"Dammit, Watts!" Biggs grumbled under his breath. With great restraint, he stopped himself from slamming the mug onto his desk. He reread the paper several times before stuffing it into his mouth and swallowing it. Seconds later, he was summoned to greet the Colonel.

* * *

High above the clouds, Jihl Nabaat's helicopter drew nearer to its landing zone. As it dove through the darkening atmosphere, Nabaat read a last-minute message sent to her computer. A coy smile crossed her lips just as she closed her laptop and she adjusted her glasses.

"Have you heard the legend of the Keyblade, Captain?" she asked the soldier sitting opposite her.

"No, ma'am; I have not."

"It is said that there exists a special key that was fashioned to fit three doors: the first door leads to Light; the second to Darkness; and the third to Infinity."

"To _Infinity_, ma'am?"

"That's right." Nabaat crossed her legs with a smug smile. "And possibly to what lies beyond."

"Is there such a thing?"

"Captain, you do your job well enough, and the Primarch will ensure that there is."

"Yes, ma'am!" The Captain saluted, though out of respect and not conviction. In truth, he did not understand the full scope of his superiors' plan, but he listened closely as the Colonel issued his new orders.

Snow flurries fluttered down as the helicopter made its final descent towards the nearby helipad. A group of high tech soldiers marched into the snow and greeted Nabaat as she and her team touched ground. Along with her entourage of guards, Nabaat retreated into the mountain cave where she rode the lift down to the lab.

"Welcome back, Colonel," said one of the scientists upon Nabaat's entry. "I trust the results were to your satisfaction."

"Indeed they were," the Colonel replied with a growing smirk. She snapped her fingers and the guard to her right handed the scientist en enveloped stuffed with field reports. "Here is the data on the Manticore Class. I want fifty units deployed to Eden by the end of the month."

"As you wish, ma'am." The scientist turned for his workstation, unlatching the folder and skimming over the reports as he walked.

"Now then," Nabaat lowered her glasses just a smidge and glanced around the area, "who here is in charge of the _Alpha Protocol_?"

"That would be me, ma'am," said Biggs as he walked out from his office.

"Ah, yes; _you_." Nabaat gave him the once over and then snapped her fingers.

"His name is Garrick Biggs, ma'am," an aide informed her with the speed and precision of a computer processor. "Aged 32, blood type O+, married, three children, two branches of extended family."

"I see." A sly smile stretched across the Colonel's lips. "Tell me, Mr. Biggs, just how is the project faring?"

"It's progressing well, ma'am. I'll have conclusive results for you within the next two weeks."

"Is that so, Mr. Biggs? Two weeks you say? My, isn't that an awfully long time."

"Considering how long the incubation period is, I'd say it's to be expected."

"Yes, yes," Nabaat hummed in accordance. She adjusted her glasses and crossed her arms. "And I do believe all those nasty _accidents_ along the way haven't helped either. Am I correct?"

"No, ma'am; they have not. But there's nothing to worry about. It's just been some bad luck."

"Bad luck you say? Then why don't we rid you of your bad luck charm, hmm?"

Biggs narrowed his eyes. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're referring to, ma'am."

"Of course not, Mr. Biggs. That's why we have Security to translate." With a snap of the Colonel's fingers, a team of five guards stormed the lounge and hauled the custodian out kicking and screaming.

"Meet your bad luck charm, Mr. Biggs."

Biggs stoned himself as the guards assaulted his cohort. "Ma'am, I don't understand. He's a janitor!"

"And a sneaky one at that, Mr. Biggs." Nabaat again snapped her fingers and the informative aide stepped forward.

"His name is Otto Watts, alias Timber Forester," said the aide. "Aged 20, blood type O-, single, no surviving kin."

"What a pity," sighed the Colonel. "I would have loved to invite the family for the show."

"You killed them all!" Watts cried between punches to the gut. "Turned them to Shadows!"

"T'was not I, Mr. Watts," replied the Colonel. Her features grew devilishly dark. "Shadows are too rudimentary and weak. They lack the ferocity to get the job done with optimum efficiency."

"You witch!"

"No, Mr. Watts; I'm not the witch. I'm just a soldier carrying out her orders."

"They know what you're doing; they're going to come for you!"

"You are referring to that little data leak of yours?" Nabaat crossed her arms and chuckled. "Did you really think no one would notice if you used the primary satellite to boost your signal? The firewall scorched your pathetic plea for assistance before anyone could hear. You got sloppy, Mr. Watts. Allow me to demonstrate how the Sanctum rewards sloppiness."

Nabaat nodded to her guards, whom at once propped Watts on his feet.

Silence enveloped the room. Though the scientists were faced towards their work and the guards were supposedly minding their posts, everyone focused all their attention to the inevitable death sentence looming over Watts' head. The Lieutenant Colonel pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and exhaled.

"If you would be so kind, Mr. Watts, please try not to move."

"Why—"

_BANG!_

Watts collapsed dead to the ground.

"Because I would hate to have accidentally shot your heart." Nabaat holstered her gun and glanced around the room. "This is what happens to traitors and spies," she declared loud enough for all to hear, and after readjusting her glasses that slipped from the recoil, she set her sights on Biggs. "You have yourself a new specimen, Mr. Biggs. Do ensure this one completes the incubation phase _on time_, lest you wish to take up residence in the container next to his."

Wordlessly, Biggs took his place beside the guards and helped them drag his deceased comrade to an empty tube alongside the naked Chinamen. They stripped Watts of his clothing and forced his corpse into the tube. After securing the case shut, Biggs walked over the nearby panel. He could feel the Colonel's cold, piercing gaze watching his every move as he operated the panel and filled the tube with green liquid.

"It's done," Biggs said, fighting to keep his voice level so that it didn't betray him.

"Good work, Mr. Biggs," said the Colonel. "Your loyalty to the project is most commendable."

Biggs didn't reply. He stood stiff as a board with eyes fixed on the Colonel's conniving face.

"As you were."

"Yes, ma'am." Biggs gave a brief salute and watched as the Colonel and her entourage marched towards her private quarters.

"Keep an eye on Mr. Biggs," the Colonel said discreetly to a nearby guard. "A single rat is sufficient evidence of an infestation."

The guard nodded.

"He was just a kid," Biggs thought to himself as he collected the janitorial uniform. "Just a kid! Damn, Intelligence! What's Basch thinking? If they hadn't closed the network, then Watts…Watts would be… Damn!" With a contorted complexion, Biggs retreated into his office and pretended to continue his research while he secretly hacked into the mainframe using the code Watts had smuggled into the coffee mug. "I'll avenge you, kid. I swear it."

Meanwhile, the Colonel settled into her quarters. She took to her chair and started on the paperwork waiting in stacks on her desk. Several hours into her work, a knock sounded at the door and a guard entered.

"Sorry for the intrusion, ma'am, but the Horseman is here to see you."

"Horseman?"

"_The Collector_, ma'am."

"Ah, yes. Deal with him," she instructed while flipping over some notes on a clipboard. "I've more pressing matters to attend to."

"He won't take 'no' for an answer. We've tried. He insists on speaking to you personally."

"Maleficent's persistence is commendable if not irritating," Nabaat groaned as she pushed away from her chair. "How a man like him can even speak is a scientific mystery in itself." She begrudgingly parted from her duties and left to greet her unwanted guest.

* * *

In Traverse Town's Second District, a group of peppy Dalmatian puppies barked and scampered around as Roger took them for a walk. With the Keyblade no longer on-world, the Heartless numbers grew far thinner and the ambush rate dropped in proportion. Roger let the puppies off the leash and settled himself on a bench to read his paper.

While playing around the nearby fountain, one of the puppies found a soggy sliver of some strange material. It was long and narrow, with an almost rust or flesh color that degraded in hue the longer it was exposed to the air. The puppy chewed on it for a bit, noticing some spots were tough like metal, and kicked it away after nicking himself on a razor-sharp edge. The slimy slab skidded across to where some others puppies played. After sniffing and pawing at it, two others grabbed either end in their mouths. By this time, the decaying object turned soft all-around and its properties resembled that of tough, chewy meat.

"Hey now, you don't want to play with that." Zack reached down and tugged the morphing material away and pocketed it. The puppies barked and howled at the loss of their new toy, but Zack just smiled and tossed them an orange to occupy their attention. "Have fun with the ball!" They chased after the delicious orange, completely forgetting about the jerky-like meat.

"Well hello there, Zack!" Roger called. "Making the rounds?"

"Up until my ship comes in," Zack replied as he made his way over to the bench.

"Oh? Heading out so soon?"

"Yup. I've got a mission."

"More deliveries?"

"No, I figured I'd get my hands a little dirty this time."

"Ah." Roger nodded and puffed his pipe. "Now that the Keyblade's been found, days like these are numbered." He watched the puppies ran around the plaza, wagging their tails as they enjoyed a rare day outside.

"They sure are. The end to the war can't come soon enough." Zack stretched his arms and neck then gave a small wave. "Well, I'd best get back on the beat."

"Ah, yes. Don't let me keep you from protecting the streets," Roger replied, though before Zack left, he troubled him with one more thing. "Before you go, have you seen Pongo by any chance?"

"Pongo?"

"Yes. He hasn't been coming home on schedule as of late. In fact, I've lost track of him this very afternoon. I was rather hoping he'd come running once he heard his pups' merriment."

"Oh, that's an easy one," Zack said without much thought. "He's lying in front of the Post Office."

"The Post Office? Whatever for?"

Zack shrugged. "You've got me."

"What has gotten into that dog?" Roger sighed. "Thank you for alleviating my fears, dear boy. Sorry to have kept you."

"No trouble at all, Roger. Take care of yourself."

"Ha, same to you, Zack. Watch yourself out there. Come back to us in one piece." Roger gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder and then returned to reading his paper.

Zack left the district via the back alley. The chipper face he had plastered on for Roger crumbled into a dismal, flat visage as he scanned the area for other signs of life. Upon ensuring he was alone, he stalked behind some crates and barrels where he pulled the jerky-like object from his pocket. He then tore the glove off one hand with his teeth and pressed the disintegrating meat hard against the center of his open palm.

The soggy slab of meat gained plasticity as it made contact with Zack's flesh. It melted into putty and was absorbed into the palm. Afterwards, Zack flexed his hand and replaced the glove. Everything went off without a hitch, though as he turned for the street, he caught a sudden flash in the corner of his eye. Like a hawk, he swerved his head up to catch the tail end of a woman's dress as she hurried inside her hotel room from the balcony overlooking the crates.

Zack stood firm and stared daggers at the balcony. Within seconds he was inside the hotel and marching up the stairs. As he knocked on the door, he corrected his posture and manipulated his visage so that it looked bright-eyed and peppy.

The door soon opened a crack and an old, ruddy-faced woman peered through the slit. She was pleasantly plump, with her gray hair tied up in a bun that was larger than her head. After seeing Zack's smiling face, she unlatched the chain and fully opened the door. "Oh, my; you're that nice man who's been patrolling the streets. Come in, won't you?"

"Thank you, ma'am." Zack walked in and the door shut behind him. He stealthily dead bolted it while the woman's attention lay elsewhere.

"I didn't expect you to come visit," she said as she went into the kitchen.

"Well, I noticed your balcony door was open a moment ago and I wanted to come check to make sure no Heartless sneaked in without your knowing," Zack said casually as he perused the contents of the room.

"My, what a sweet young man you are!" The old woman returned with a pot of tea and a tray of biscuits. She set them on the coffee table and motioned for Zack to take a seat on the sofa. "It warms my heart to know that you and your friends are doing everything in your power to keep this town safe."

"Ha, yeah." Zack settled into the couch and took a biscuit when offered.

"So what's the verdict, young man? Are there any…" the woman's voice grew hushed and she leaned in, "you-know-whats in here?"

"Nope, it looks like you're clean," Zack said through a mouthful of cookie as he took another glance around the room.

The old woman held her heart and exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness. I wouldn't have gone out there in the first place, but I've been stuck up in this stuffy room since your friends issued that red alert."

"It's been lifted now."

"Oh, yes; I know. That's why I dared to be adventurous. Ho, ho." She chuckled a bit as she squeezed lemon into her tea and then took a sip.

"By the way, ma'am—"

"Please, call me Lucille."

"Lucille, did you—"

"And you are?"

"Zack Fair, ma'am."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Zack! Here, take another cookie. I baked them myself, this time without disco lights and caffeine patches! Ho, ho." She paused and leaned in with a whisper. "That means they're actually edible."

With a polite smile, Zack took another cookie and once again tried to speak. "Lucille, did you see what I was doing in the alley?" He maintained his cheery disposition as he asked the question.

"Why, yes…"

Zack continued to smile as he discreetly fingered one of his daggers.

"But you needn't worry!"

"Oh?" Zack gripped the hilt of the dagger.

"I won't tell a soul! Magicians never reveal the secret to their tricks after all. It's not your fault I unwittingly stumbled across your act, ho, ho!"

"Yes, that's right," Zack said as he let go of the dagger and used his freed hand to stir his tea. "I'm practicing a new magic act to surprise the children at the orphanage. I thought the alley would be a good place to make sure no one knew what I was up to. Even my friends don't know."

"Well you needn't worry, Zack; my lips are sealed! Ho, ho!"

"Thank you kindly, Lucille. This will mean a lot to the children."

Lucille took another sip of her tea and hummed. "You know, my late husband used to do a bit of magic."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." Lucille set her tea down on the table and stood up from her seat. "Bud would trick people into thinking his head was screwed on backwards." She wandered over to the mantelpiece and picked up the centermost photograph of an old, balding man with large, black-rimmed glasses, big ears, and his bowtie springing from the back of his neck. "Good, old Bud… He disappeared after those nasties invaded. My son tried to stop them, but…" She sighed. Her sad smile quivered as she lightly stroked her thumb across her late husband's joyful face.

"I'm sorry, Lucille…"

"No reason to apologize," she said as she laid the picture back gently where it belonged. "It's not your fault that it happened. On the contrary, you're trying to stop the you-know-whats!"

"Indeed I am, Lucille. Indeed I am."

"As long as you and others like you keep up the good fight, I know there'll be better days ahead of us."

Zack hummed and ate another cookie. Before long, he parted ways with Lucille and traveled to the First District to end his shift. Inside the Accessory Shop, Cid was waiting with some news.

"Just put the finishing touches on Paine's ship," he said while polishing a bracelet. "Heh, I've never seen a rig with more engines. You two'll probably blow open a black hole."

"She's already here?"

"Landed hours ago." Cid spat into his rag and scrubbed extra hard to get the shine just right before placing the jewelry into the display case. "Said she didn't want to bother you while on duty, and she'd use the downtime to go have a 'girl's night out' 'til you got back."

Zack sighed with a weak smile. "Typical party-girl Paine. I just hope she's buying provisions and not shoes."

"Don't mind the latter if they're steel-toe. Could be handy where you're going."

"True. So where's Leon? I have to brief him on the Heartless count."

"He's out fulfilling the King's orders."

"What _did _the King order you guys to do?"

Cid slung the cleaning rag over his shoulder and leaned against the case. "To make Traverse Town accommodating to the folks who come here. We're building a Fourth District. It's gonna have more housing, a hospital, and a bigger orphanage. From there, we'll keep going 'till we don't need anymore districts."

"Makes sense. Only problem I can see with it is the larger this town becomes, the more attention it'll attract from the Order."

"Yeah, we're working on that. Just wish the King could've been around to brainstorm with us. I'm a gummi man, not a city planner!"

"I'm sure you guys will think of something," Zack said as he turned for the door. "I'm going to go wait for Paine."

"Wait! Hold your britches for a sec." Cid reached into his belly warmer and pulled out a wrinkled photograph. "I meant to give this to you earlier, but I didn't want to spoil the party."

With a curious gaze, Zack walked back to the counter and took the extended photograph. "This is…"

"I found it when I was configuring the ship."

"Good, old Angeal…" Zack sighed as he studied the photograph of himself as a boy propped on Angeal's shoulders. His melancholy smile quivered as he stroked his thumb across the older man's face.

Cid dropped his gaze and gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry, boy. So very sorry…"

"No reason to apologize," Zack replied as he pocketed the photograph. "It's not your fault that it happened. On the contrary, you're trying to stop the Heartless."

"Yeah. All the same, sorry you had to say goodbye so soon and without warning."

"I appreciate that, Cid. As long as you and the guys keep up the good fight, I know there'll be better days ahead of us." Zack gave him a small wave and again started for the door.

"Hey, good luck out there, eh? Find those texts!"

"Will do!"

Zack didn't need to venture far to find Paine; she, Yuffie, and Aerith were ordering smoothies at the café. He wandered over to them with a chipper smile and grand greeting. "Hey, Dr. P! Ready to go?"

"Call me that again and I'll yank out your tongue," Paine greeted in turn, earning a giggle from Yuffie.

"He's not Rikku, you know!" Yuffie said, giving Zack a consoling pat on the arm.

Paine crossed her arms and sighed. "True, but give him free reign and who knows where he'll run off with it."

"Not to the Rikku camp, that's for sure," Zack assured her. "I've seen how many respect points you've deducted from her average and I don't need that kind of bad karma."

"Smart man." Paine got to her feet and grabbed her sword and a handful of shopping bags. "Well, ladies, I'd hate to dine and dash, but we've a schedule to keep."

"See you later, guys!" Yuffie replied with a big wave.

Aerith, who had grown quiet since Zack arrived, continued to hold her tongue. Instead, she fiddled around with a crumpled scrap of paper that she clutched in her hands. Yuffie prodded her for some sort of reaction, but she went ignored. Aerith watched Zack and Paine reached the main doors where Leon greeted them there after hiking back from the construction zone to collect Zack departing report. Before they left for the Zero District, Aerith chased after them.

"Wait!" she called, and Zack stopped. "I want you to have this." She took Zack's hands in hers and slipped him the crumpled paper.

"What is this?" Zack asked with a questioning gaze.

"You remember, don't you—from back home?"

Zack unfolded the paper to look at its contents then glanced back at Aerith.

"Please," she said, looking into his lifeless eyes, "this is the only one that matters to me now. You can disregard the others, okay?"

"Aerith, I—"

"Have a safe trip, Zack. Until next time." Aerith gave him a warm smile and then ran off to where Leon was waiting for her.

"Get your head out of the clouds. We don't have all day," said Paine and she continued towards the garage.

Zack barely paid attention to her as he watched Aerith leave and then focused back on the paper. Written in neat handwriting across the full extent of the slip were the words: "I wish Zack's heart would heal." He read them several times before whispering "Me too" and slipping the paper into his pocket next to the photograph. He then chased after Paine.

* * *

At the garage, Atla fluttered about in a frenzy while waiting for the two daredevils crazy enough to fly the deathtrap he and the Chief had slapped together. "This'll never work, kupo!" he thought. "I'm gonna have blood on my hands, kupo! Will they send me to moogle prison? Will I turn into a Heartless? What's a moogle to do, kupopo? Humans are off their rockers! It's no wonder the Chief left _me_ in charge; he's trying to wash his hands clean at my expense! Kupopopopo!" All the color drained from his moogley pink complexion as he gasped at the realization. "I've become a _patsy_! Kuuuuuuupo!"

No sooner did he start to picture himself in stripes when Zack and Paine rushed in. "Strap us in, pompom-boy! We're already behind schedule." She tossed her shopping bags into the cargo bay and jumped into the cockpit. Zack settled in the co-pilot's seat and put on a helmet.

"Glad I've taught you well," Paine said as she fished out her own helmet.

"I learned from the best!"

"Darn right you did."

Atla floated up to the cockpit with a pencil and clipboard. "Okay, you two; here's the drill: we've attached _six_—count 'em—_six_ new hyper engines for a total of nine engines. That's never been done before, kupo."

"Is it safe?" Zack asked.

"No, you're screwed," Atla wanted to say, but he just smiled and instead replied with, "Of course it is, kupo! You'd think I'd knowingly strap the Chief's friends into a nuclear-powered deathtrap that's guaranteed to kill you and everyone within a 100-mile radius of you in a catastrophic explosion that will make even Maleficent weep for your doomed immortal souls?"

"So is that a no…?"

"Yes."

"Meaning no?"

"No."

"So then you mean yes to no, or no to yes—"

"Enough!" Paine shouted. "Just get on with it!"

"Roger that, kupo." Atla put a little check mark on his list and continued. "Please keep your hands, feet, and heads within the vehicle at all times. In case of an emergency, either pray to your deity of choice or curse your existence. To get an extra speed boost, we've installed some nitrous to give your engines that extra little bit of kick! So feel free to use that if you feel you're going too slow." Atla paused to check another few items on his list. "And finally, we've installed a countdown clock to show you the target time to your deaths—I mean, arrival. You _should_ get there by the time this clock reaches zero. If not, it might be time for some nitrous. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I have one," Zack said with a raise of his hand. "Is this thing saf—"

"No questions? Good!" Atla slammed down the windshield and signaled the launch. "Happy flying, kupo!"

The moogles in the control room lowered the gates and extended the runway. They started the countdown clock and cleared Paine to start the thrusters. Torrents of fire burst out of the nine engines and grew in size until they meshed into a towering flame that would have burned the whole garage to ashes had Cid not constructed it entirely out of fireproof tiles. The ship rumbled and creaked with the roaring of the engines.

"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Zack shouted.

"WHAT?"

"I SAID: ARE YOU SURE THIS THING IS SAFE?"

"COME ON, FAIR! DIDN'T FIGURE YOU TO BE ONE TO PUSSYFOOT AROUND!"

"I just don't want to get killed before I get a heart…"

"WHAT?"

"Never mind!"

"NEVER MIND! WE'RE GONNA LAUNCH! HOLD ON TO YOUR BREAKFAST!" With a flick of the switch and a press of the button, Paine thrust the ship forward where it exploded into the atmosphere. It flew so fast that Atla blinked and accidentally missed the whole spectacle.

"Well, at least they're not in pieces yet, kupo." He fluttered over to the main monitor and tracked their position across space. "It's going to be a long two days, kupopo…"

* * *

Sazh Katzroy was no stranger to piloting through perilous skies. With over twenty-five years of flying experience as both a commercial pilot and a pilot in the air force, he spent a good amount of time streaking through asteroid fields, barrel rolling past missiles, and dodging laser bullets. When someone of his expertise shouted loud enough to bust a vocal cord, then the situation had to be dire.

"What _is_ that thing?" Sazh screamed as he maneuvered his ship around a giant, octopus-like Heartless orbiting around the nearby planet.

"What's what, Daddy?" Sazh's little boy unbuckled himself and peeked around his father's shoulder to get a better look outside. "Cool!" The giant Heartless was a floating heap of black goo, with eight long tentacles that whipped around sporadically in the zero gravity space. It had multiple half-crescent, yellow eyes of varying sizes all around its head with beady pupils that shifted in every which direction until they all focused on Sazh's ship.

"Dajh! Get back into your seat!" Sazh ordered.

"But I wanna see you shoot the monster, Daddy," Dajh pouted.

"I can shoot him better once you're strapped in! Now hold on; Daddy's about to roll this bird around like crazy."

"Kweh?" A baby chocobo hiding in Sazh's afro flew out in a panic. His feathers were bright yellow and he was no larger than Sazh's palm.

"No, not _you_," Sazh groaned. "I meant the plane. Now both of you buckle up! Things are about to get rough."

"Kweh!" The baby chocobo flew towards Dajh and hovered around the seat buckle.

"Aww, okay." Dajh readjusted his strap and held onto his pet chocobo.

Once Sazh heard his boy settle down, he tilted the plane sharp to the side and rolled it around an incoming barrage of tentacles. Black goo splattered all over the windshield and tiny Shadow Heartless sprung out to crawl along the fuselage of the aircraft. The clawed at the metal plating trying to crack it open and expose the inner circuitry.

"Oh no, you don't! I just got this baby waxed!" Sazh quickly flipped a couple of switches that sent an electric current rushing throughout the ship's exoskeleton. It fried the Shadows clean off and sent them floating into space. "And don't think I'm stopping there. Ol' Sazh still has plenty of tricks up his sleeves!" The ship barreled around the incoming tentacles and counterattacked with a round of turret fire.

The Heartless growled and continued to swat away at the fly-sized ship. It spewed more muck from its tentacles to goad Sazh in one direction, and once it lured him close enough, the octopus expelled a hazy gas from its pores that enveloped the ship. The acidic gas continued the Shadows' work and ate away at the ship's external plating.

"Good thing I restocked the window washing fluid before we left," Sazh muttered. With a press of the button, a jet stream of soapy water splashed across the windshield and streaked across the fuselage. Sazh pressed the button again and again until the tank ran empty and the ship was squeaky-clean. "See, Dajh? That's why baths are important. It gets the grime, acid, and darkness off of ya."

Dajh crossed his little arms and huffed. "Aww, I know…"

"Now what are you going to do when we get to New Port?"

"Take a bath…"

Sazh gave a proud nod. "That's right." He nosedived around a set of tentacles and pulled up. "Who says parenting on the job's hard? Goes to show you can do anything if you try."

Darkness pooled into the crescent eyes of the octopus. As if riding the black muck like an elevator, new Heartless emerged from the darkened eyes and took flight towards the ship. Armed with swords, the new Heartless started ransacking the ship from all angles.

"Not gonna give Ol' Sazh a break, huh?" Sazh took another go at the electrocution switch hoping those swords would act as conductors for the current, but no dice. When that didn't work, he focused on turret fire. The Heartless barely flinched when the bullets connected and continued their rampage. They plowed through with full force accompanied by wave after wave of tentacle lashes.

The baby chocobo wriggled its way out of Dajh's hands and hovered next to Sazh. "Kweh!" He nodded towards the big red button in the center of the control panel.

"Oh, no; it's not time for that yet."

The chocobo gave him a pointed look. "Kweeeh!"

"I know what I'm doing! No backseat driving now, ya hear? Let me handle this."

With an exasperated chirp, the baby chocobo flew back to Dajh just as Sazh sent the ship into another nosedive. The Heartless continued to pound away at the ship with their swords until some sizeable dents formed. By then, Sazh activated the main cannon and started blasting away at every Heartless that came within range. He purged half the field clean with canon fire and let the octopus pick off the rest by luring its minions into the path of the flailing tentacles. But just as the ship hooked the last Heartless for the kill, the octopus finally landed a hit on its mark. A forceful smack from the tentacle sent the ship spinning out of control and sirens were screeching in the cockpit.

"_Warning! Stabilizers offline! Fuel leak in number two pump! Engine three failure!"_

"All that from _one_ hit? Uncle Eight-legs over there has more spunk than I thought!" Sazh pulled out all the stops to level the ship. He rerouted power from the outer safety systems to the engine and accessed the secondary stabilizing unit. But the second the sirens went silent, the octopus went in for the killing blow. It hammered the ship and cracked the cockpit windshield. Air started to siphon out and the sirens blared all the louder.

"_Warning! Oxygen levels depleting at abnormal rate!"_

"Gotta keep calm; gotta keep calm." Sazh wanted to take a deep breath, but refrained. He turned to Dajh. "You doing okay?"

"Whee! It's like a rollercoaster!" he giggled, throwing his hands up in the air with glee.

"Glad someone's having fun…" Sazh muttered. He then nodded to the chocobo. "Hey, mind handing me the duct tape?"

The baby chocobo chirped and fluttered over to the emergency supply kit at the far end of the cockpit. He pecked the hatch open and grabbed the duct tape with his talons.

Sazh took the tape and patched the windshield enough for the sirens to cease. "That should hold 'til we land. Now what's say we hit Uncle Eight-legs with the works?"

"Kweh!" Beating Sazh to the punch, the chocobo dove for the big, red button and sat on it.

"_Megaton Laser engaged,"_ said the onboard AI as a huge laser cannon lowered out of the ship's belly hatch. _"Please select target."_

"Gotta make this shot count or else we're cooked." Sazh circled around the raging tentacles and got in close to the octopus. Another haze of acidic gas engulfed the ship, and with no more soapy water left, the metal started to strip. Sazh turned on the windshield wiper, which dissolved clean off after several scrubs. But it was enough to clean the windshield. Bulging out of the underbelly of the beast was a large, pink node.

Sazh aimed the laser. "That pulsating bump is practically a bull's-eye!"

"_Megaton Cannon charging. 15%...28%...44%..."_

"Come on…just a little more! You can do it…"

The acid eroded most of the outer panels, leaving wires to dangle out the sides of the ship. Exposed gears and sprockets rattled out of place from the lack of gravity stabilization. The sirens in the cockpit wailed in full-force, drowning out the laser countdown. Beads of sweat rolled down Sazh's forehead as he steadied the ship and strained his ears listening for the moment to shoot. All the while Dajh continued to giggle and the chocobo took to preening itself as if it didn't have a care in the world. Neither one though for a second that Sazh would fail.

"_87%...96%...99%..."_

"_Warning! Engine three failure! Engine two failure! Leak in number one pump!"_

"_100%. Megaton Laser ready to fire."_

"Here we go!" Sazh jammed on the trigger and fired the laser into the dead center of the pulsating node. A high-powered beam of pure, concentrated energy pierced through node, and within seconds, the octopus exploded. Heaps of black muck splattered all across space, with some entering the nearby planet's atmosphere. Shadows borne from the darkness streaked across the sky where they burned up in atmosphere entry.

"Ha, ha! We did it!" Sazh cheered. Dajh and his chocobo joined in the merriment but were cut short by the AI.

"_Warning! Engine one seizure! Fire detected in sub hatch! Stabilizers offline!"_

"Hang on; we're in for a rough landing!"

The fire in the sub hatch spread into the fuel leak, setting off a chain of explosions that propelled the ship towards the planet. Sazh's ship went hurdling into the atmosphere where its exposed circuitry caught fire. The acid had eroded all of the protective plates, leaving the cockpit susceptible to skyrocketing temperatures. Thinking fast, Sazh wrapped duct tape around his hands for makeshift mitts to guard him from the scalding hot steering gauge. The joystick steamed from the heat as its plastic casing melted, but Sazh held fast. He was determined to land safely.

An ear-shattering boom rippled through the sky as the ship entered the atmosphere and plummeted to the ground. Pushing his whole body into the steering gauge, Sazh forced the ship to spiral into a cluster of decaying, ashen trees. The trees broke the ship's fall where it skidded into a nearby Olympic-size swimming pool. The murky water engulfed the ship and sunk it to the bottom concrete.

"Listen, Dajh," Sazh said as he yanked off his makeshift mittens, "I'm going to open the hatch. When I do, I want you to close your eyes and hold your breath."

"Okay, Daddy."

"And whatever you do, don't let go of me. Understand?"

"Yep!"

"Good." Sazh unbuckled himself followed by Dajh and then hovered his hand over the emergency eject button. "Now take a deep breath and hold onto me."

The baby chocobo watched as Dajh sucked in a ton of air, and then mimicked him. Sazh grabbed both his son and chocobo and inhaled some air himself before slamming the eject button. Dark water rushed into the cockpit as the windshield blew open and floated away. Hugging his family close, Sazh launched himself into the pool and kicked up to the surface. Everyone gasped for air and pulled over to the edge of the pool where the climbed out sopping wet.

"Just great; we're probably gonna catch our death of cold like this," Sazh grumbled. His waterlogged afro drooped over his eyes until he strained it.

The chocobo chirped and shook its feathers dry. "Kweh!"

"Well, I guess you don't have much of a problem."

"Daddy, what will we do now?" Dajh asked. "Our stuff sank."

"We're just gonna have to find some new stuff later. The folks at New Port can get along just fine without us for a couple more weeks." Sazh glanced around his surroundings. They had crashed on Andy's old campus. Pale skeletons of trees and bushes lined the pool and the gymnasium building cracked and crumbled. There was no sign of life, friendly or otherwise. But Sazh knew that would soon change. The Heartless had to have sensed their presence.

"First thing's first, Dajh; we need new clothes." Sazh pointed towards the abandoned gymnasium and the three of them headed for the locker room. There, they found some clean towels to dry off with and gym clothes to wear. Sazh strapped a sweatband around his afro to soak in the excess moisture and did the same for Dajh.

Before they set out, however, Sazh checked his handguns for waterlog. He opened the barrels and checked the ammo clips. "Everything seems in working order," he mused. He then holstered the guns and strapped on the belt. "Next step's to find our mission objective. Now Dajh, you stay close to Daddy, okay? There're gonna be a lot of Heartless around, so be on your best behavior."

"Okay, Daddy," Dajh nodded as he took his father's hand. "But how will we get home?"

"Some friends are gonna come help us soon. We'll get a ride with them."

"Yay! Friends!"

Sazh gave a soft smile and patted his son's head. "It shouldn't have to be like this," he thought to himself. "Dajh should be at school learning and playing with kids his own age. But look where we are now: at some deserted college-turned-graveyard. This war's gotta end, and soon. I want to send Dajh to a college like this one day. I'd imagine it looks nicer without all the death and decay."

"Daddy?" Dajh tugged on his father's sleeve.

"What is it, son?"

"Where are we going now?"

"To find some clues! One of the people Daddy works with disappeared around here and it's our job to find out what's happened to him."

"So it's like a mystery?"

"Sort of, yeah."

"I love mysteries! Whodunnit, Daddy? Was it the butler?"

"We'll see, son. We'll see." Sazh led his party out of the gymnasium and out onto the path leading to the center of the campus. In the distance, he could hear the moans of the ghouls waiting to greet him with their cold, heart-prying claws. "This is going to be a long day…"

* * *

A/N: If you don't quite understand what Zack was doing in the alley, it would be wise to review the first part of Chapter 14. It should become clear then.

Characters you may not know:

Watts – _Final Fantasy VIII_

Lucille Krunklehorn – _Meet the Robinsons_

Sazh Katzroy – _Final Fantasy XIII_

Dajh Katzroy – _Final Fantasy XIII_

Baby Chocobo – _Final Fantasy XIII_

The character Biggs is a nod to the many Final Fantasy characters sharing the same name, which in turn are a nod to the Star Wars character. Also, Biggs was a shopkeeper in KH2, but that character is separate from the incarnation present in _Broken Shield_.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

As it streaked through the sea of space, Paine's ship rattled and quaked like a set of cataclysmic tectonic plates. The elaborate paintjob alongside the hull depicting a red-eyed skull in a pit of flames peeled clean off within seconds of launch, and with each passing megalight-year, a new cluster of gummi blocks came loose and jettisoned from the frame. The ship was falling to pieces, but Paine and Zack didn't lose their nerve; she loved the thrill of lightning-fast vehicles, and he didn't have any nerve to lose.

Paine didn't need the excuse of the countdown clock to opt for the nitrous. Not more than an hour into the flight, she grew bored with the current top speed of 2000 light-years per second and decided to juice the thrusters. The ship rocked and rumbled with every injection of nitrous as it sped faster towards the opposite side of the universe. The only thing working harder than the nine engines was the on-board navigation protocol that auto-corrected the ship's course and maintained its stability to avoid collision with nearby worlds.

To prevent permanent damage to their eardrums, both Zack and Paine wore a combination of industrial-grade earplugs and heavy-duty earmuffs. Though filled with nothing but the whirring of the engines, the cabin did not experience any severe turbulence. Thanks to the modified stabilizers installed by the moogles, Zack and Paine could stand, eat, and sleep without much hassle. They enjoyed a fairly smooth ride until the stabilizers plum blew off the ship.

Just minutes from its destination, the ship had lost most of its outer frame, and along with it, the cabin stabilizers and GPS navigation antennae. The inertia in the cabin forced Zack and Paine hard against their seats. Without guidance from Cid's satellites, the computer failed to steer the ship clear of an upcoming moon. It crashed straight through the center, exploding it into debris that veered into the nearby world and set its cities ablaze. Cracks webbed across the cockpit's dome and Zack eyed the emergency oxygen tank next to his seat. But the force pinning his arms down was too great to overcome. He then darted his eyes over at Paine, who slowly inched her fingers towards the nitrous switch.

The bolts holding down the two seats rattled and squeaked loose, and Paine's headrest bent backwards, forcing her eyes to the ceiling. But still her index finger stretched for the switch. Pressure continued building along the base of the captain's chair until the bolts were yanked out of the floor.

As her seat went tumbling backwards, Paine forced all of her energy and jerked forward just enough to flip the switch. The nitrous pumped into the engines and sent them into overdrive for the last time. Paine smacked into the rear wall as the rickety ship hurtled even faster to its imminent destruction, losing both of its wings in the process. It bounced and ricocheted off three asteroids and a moon on its collision course with a nearby planet.

Nothing remained save for the engines, thrusters and base blocks composing the mainframe of the ship. The flooring broke away fast, and to add to the oxygen crisis, the windshield shattered, scattering its tiny fragments everywhere. Zack closed his eyes just as the sharp, broken particles blew across his face. He sucked in a last bit of air before burrowing his nose into his shoulder and forcing his nostrils shut.

The shrinking husk of metal flew into the atmosphere and caught fire. Three of the engines blew out, sending the ship spinning wildly out of control. Tossed around like a rag doll, Paine lost consciousness. Meanwhile, Zack continued to hold his breath and force his head steady, straining every muscle in his neck in the process. The flaming mass crashed hard into the ground, forming a crater large enough to comfortably house a family of whales.

When Zack opened his eyes, he saw a puddle of red pooling out from under him. The shock of impact had been strong enough to snap his chair free from its restraints and forced him to the ground where his body was impaled on shards of the upturned metal flooring. He took a quick glance at Paine, who was knocked out cold just a few feet in front of him.

With a groan, Zack retracted his outstretched hands and pressed them firmly to the ground. In one, swift motion he pushed himself up and stumbled to his feet. He staggered a bit until he regained his balance. Jagged chunks of metal protruded from his chest, but not for long. Zack inhaled slowly, and as he did so, the metal melted and submerged into his skin, patching up all of his critical injuries.

Thick smoke soon filled the cabin, and Zack wasted little time. He tore off his bloodstained shirt, and after stripping it clean of his various blades, fed it to the growing flames. Underneath, his bare torso didn't show even the slightest hint of damage. Zack then flipped around his fallen seat and tore off the bottom cushion. A spare indigo uniform in a vacuum-sealed bag dropped at his feet.

After donning a new vest, Zack returned his focus to Paine, who was centimeters away from the ravenous fire. Flames nipped at her boots until Zack collected her in his arms. With a quick study of his surroundings, he charged to the front of the cockpit and jumped out the broken canopy. Once outside, he hoisted Paine over his shoulder and took a sword in each hand. With a running start, he jumped towards the wall of the crater and began the rough ascent by digging his swords into the earth for leverage and support.

It took almost an hour for Zack to climb out of the crater. Paine kept slipping and his swords occasionally dug into a patch of weak soil. He had slid to the bottom to start anew many times before finally reaching the surface. When touching foot on ground again, Zack made the trek to a nearby ashen tree void of the leaves of life. He set Paine down to rest and gave her a quick check for signs of any serious injuries. Aside from some minor cuts and bruises, she was fine.

Zack leaned his back against the decaying bark and looked at the abysmal scenery, allaying any doubts he had about crashing on the right world. Both the ground and sky were colorless and reeked of death—a trademark sign of heavy Heartless activity. He tossed off his helmet and ear protection, and kept an eye out for the emissaries of darkness until Paine regained consciousness.

When she came to, Paine slowly sat up and blinked the haze from her eyes.

"What happened…?" she muttered. Of course, Zack's reply sounded muffled until she tossed off her headgear. "Say again?"

"We've arrived, but our ship's totaled. It went up in flames." Zack pointed to the smoking crater.

"We were in that? Ha." Paine lifted up her helmet and held it like a trophy. "And people doubt its magic."

"Preaching to the choir."

Paine got to her feet, and after dusting herself off, gave Zack the once-over. "Well aren't _you_ the picture of health?"

"On the outside, maybe. My lungs are probably as black as pitch," Zack replied in a strained voice as he hacked and wheezed into his fist.

"You always did have the Devil's luck," Paine jibed as she walked to the edge of the crater. "There're worse things than a pulmonary paint job." She peered down into the smoldering mess. Little remained of the base blocks, which were indistinguishable from the scorched earth. Some minor flames continued to eat away at the remnants as they slowly died.

"Cid owes me," Paine said with a sour face. She tossed her helmet into the pit and walked past Zack, snagging one of his swords in the process. "Hope you don't mind if I borrow this; mine's made like a popsicle on a hot summer's day."

Zack gave a nervous smile. "Sure, just remember to—"

"I know, I know; I haven't forgotten your OCD, Fair. You'll get it back after the mission." Paine gave the sword a twirl before holstering it. "Now come on; let's hurry up and find Sazh before the Shadows come out to play."

With a nod, Zack jogged up to his companion and the two wandered into the dead forest.

* * *

On the other side of the world, Sazh ran through the college campus with Dajh in his arms as a horde of heart-hungry Heartless paraded after them. Skeletal hands erupted from the ground and swiped at Sazh's feet while bony birds rained down from the rooftops. Sazh took a few quick shots, sending skeletal remains flying in every direction.

"Close your eyes, son!" he implored as a spare rib scratched the side of his cheek. "It'll all be over soon." The infestation was worse than he had anticipated. Zombies cut him off at every corner, their chains rattling and snaking up to ensnare Sazh's ankles. He fired a few more shots and dashed for the nearest unobstructed door.

Inside the abandoned Admission's Office, a couple of skeletal birds had made a nest out of tattered graduation gowns. Sazh made short work of them with his gun and then went to work on barring the entrance. "Stay away from the windows," he ordered his son as he pushed chairs from the waiting area against the door, and then hurried to fortify the windows. Books, plants, and even the coffee pot were hastily piled onto the windowsills. They wouldn't last for long, he knew, but they would buy him enough time to formulate a better plan.

When he finished stuffing a potted poinsettia into the last bare nook, he jogged over to the main reception desk and signaled to his son. "You stay close to me now, you hear? This'll only take a few seconds." Dajh joined his father.

The large, crescent desk bolted to the floor far inside the office housed a computer for each secretary, and of the four, only one retained functionality. Sazh wasted no time in accessing a map of the campus.

Dajh stood up on his tiptoes, but even then his eyes could barely see above the counter. "What game are you playing, Daddy?" he asked while hoisting himself up further by pulling out a drawer to use as a makeshift step.

"It's called: 'Find the Security Station'."

"Are you winning? Can I play?"

"You're already playing, Dajh." Sazh grabbed his boy's hand and ushered him towards the backdoor. "If we beat the Heartless to the security station, we win."

"Yay!" Dajh broke away from his father and ran on ahead just as the flimsy barricades in the office crumbled. "Hurry, Daddy!"

"Dajh, don't get out too far ahead of me!"

Dajh giggled as his boyhood whimsy whisked him away in pursuit of merriment. In his youthful mind, it was all a game. He understood the dangers of the Heartless well, and yet, in order to cope with the harshness of reality, he chose subconsciously to suppress his fears and trust in his father's ability to protect and perpetuate the fragile illusion of safety.

Just a few yards from the Admission's Office, a decaying rabbit jumped out in front of Dajh. It hissed at the boy, causing him to shriek in shock. The rabbit bucked forward and got within inches of Dajh before a loud shot rang out, forcing it to tumble over unmoving.

"I told you not to get too far ahead," Sazh said as he approached and holstered his gun.

But Dajh paid little attention to his father. Something more exciting captivated his attention. "Look, Daddy! A toy!"

"Huh?"

Dajh made a beeline for the Heartless bunny.

"Don't touch that!" shouted Sazh, his face livid. But to both his relief and surprise, Dajh went past the fading Heartless and instead picked up a ragged, chewed-up cowboy doll. "Put that down! You don't know where it's been!"

"Tee-hee!" Dajh hugged the doll as if his father had said nothing at all, and pulled on the drawstring.

"_There's a snake in my boot_!" said Woody.

"Look, Daddy! He talks!" Dajh pulled the cord again and jumped up with glee.

"_There's a snake in my boot_!"

"Can I keep him, Daddy? Huh? Can I? _Can I_?"

"No, you can't keep him!" Sazh wanted to say, but one look into his son's puppy dog eyes sealed the deal. Even if that rabbit had gnawed on it a bit, it could still occupy Dajh's attention until they got off that miserable world.

"Okay, fine," Sazh relented.

"Yipee!"

"But on _one_ condition: don't pull that string again until we leave. We don't want the Heartless to hear it."

"I promise, Daddy."

"Good, now let's go!"

The two raced across the campus past hordes of zombies. The Heartless could sense fresh hearts and threw themselves at their prey. But none were a match for Sazh's quick draw skills. Clumps of undead Heartless paved the path to the security station, and to Sazh's good fortune, the small office lacked windows. He barred the door with a chair and got tow work on the security terminal.

The station housed all the monitors for the security camera feeds. Dozens of small, black and white monitors were connected to the main cataloguing computer. Sazh ran a simple search for the feeds inside and outside Andy's dormitory, and pulled up the footage on one of the monitors.

"Are we watching TV?" Dajh asked.

"Just a little bit." Sazh leaned in close to the monitor as he rewound the tape. "There!" He stopped, jaw agape, as the heavily armored lancer came into view. "What've we gotten ourselves into…?"

Dajh lifted Woody up to guard his face, peeking ever so slighting from behind the doll's shoulder. "Who's that scary man?"

"The one responsible for this mess."

"Are you going to get him, Daddy?"

Sazh pushed away from the terminal and fingered a gun. "We'll see, son." With a steady hand, he removed the chair from the door and slowly turned the knob. He took a glance outside, laying eyes on a suspect sight. The coast was clear—too clear. "Stay close to me no matter what," he warned, and progressed into the open with gun at the ready.

No sooner did they step outside when the Heartless came out to feast. Skeletal arms erupted from the ashen soil. The undead emerged in full force as the whole of the world concentrated on the last two remaining hearts on campus.

Sazh started running anywhere he could evade the mob. Without a ship to return to, his only options were to run and hide until reinforcements arrived.

"Daddy, I'm scared," said Dajh as a zombie gained on him.

The Heartless groaned, making a swipe at Dajh with its shambling hand. Its maggoty, grey jaw drooped down at an awkward slant, stretching like rubber as the zombie hobbled faster after its prey. A shot from Sazh stopped it in its tracks, and the dirt swallowed the decaying corpse as it hit the ground.

Sazh kept his gun leveled, clearing the way to yet another hopeful hiding place. "Everything's going to be okay," he assured his son. But as they reached the next building, the roof collapsed from the weight of the roosting skeleton.

Unscathed, the bony birds erupted from the rubble and attacked. Sazh pulled out a second gun and blasted them to pieces only to get smacked upside the head by rusty chain.

"Daddy!" Dajh ran to his father, who went sliding through the mud.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," Sazh groaned as he got his feet. His clothes were soaked in mud, and worms wriggled in and out of his afro.

Dajh looked up and inspected his father for obvious injuries. "Are you okay?"

"Stay behind me." In one swift motion, Sazh tore the muddy headband from his hair and tossed in into the drooping face of his oncoming assailant. Caught offguard, the Heartless stumbled long enough for Sazh to counter. He twirled his guns and shot them off several dozen times, decimating the zombie and his enclosing cronies. The Heartless dispersed, and Sazh let out a sigh of relief. "C'mon, Dajh; let's go—"

Just then the ground quaked. Another building collapsed, and the ashen trees blew away with the wind. The muddy ground under Sazh's feet hardened into a black mass that grew to envelop the whole of the campus. Out of the darkness arose a giant shadow with glowing, yellow eyes and dark tentacles that twisted around its head like a tangled mane. It towered over the father and son, its gargantuan hands levitating over them before clenching into fists that rocketed into the ground.

"It's _Darkside_!" Sazh screamed as hundreds of tiny Shadows sprung from the vortex of darkness spiraling out of the darkened ground. He collected Dajh in his arms and ran like a man on fire.

"Daddy! That's the monster! He's the one that…that…!" Dajh's eyes grew misty. He squeezed Woody close, clinging as hard as he could to the moment before Darkside's arrival.

"Don't look, son. Just don't look! It'll all be over soon."

Dajh buried his faced into his father's shoulders and tried not to cry. "Don't go away, Daddy. Please don't go away…like Mommy did…"

"I'm not going _anywhere,_ Dajh. You hear? Your old man's staying put!"

Dajh hugged his father tight.

"Of all the Heartless that could've showed up…!" Sazh thought while dodging an oncoming assault of chains from the relentless zombies. "Just once I'd like to face off against something cuddly and inept—like a dust bunny or a gnat. Heck, why is Darkside even _here_?"

Shadows dogged at Sazh's heels, zombies ambushed him at every turn, and skeletons in every other cardinal direction. A trail of blackened worms followed him wherever he went as the baby chocobo kicked the miniature Heartless out of his home. All the while, Darkside continued to reach its arms deeper into the ground, reaching for the world's core to corrupt and devour.

Sazh slid to a stop. Caught between the undead and the shadows, he didn't have enough bullets to carve a clean path. "Routine rescue mission my foot! Basch, you've sentenced us to death!"

"Daddy…" Dajh peeked his eyes out and shivered at the sight of the advancing horde.

"Be brave, Dajh!" Sazh held his boy close, tightening the grip on his gun. "Be brave."

He took aim.

_BANG!_

Like the shot commencing a marathon, the Heartless swarmed their prey. They covered Sazh and Dajh in darkness from head-to-toe, blanketing them in a teeming mass of heart-hungry scavengers, only to get blown away by a powerful Aero spell. The Heartless scattered in all directions as Paine and Zack charged in with their blades and magic.

"Well aren't you two a sight for sore eyes!" Sazh chuckled.

Dajh waved at the newcomers. "Yay, it's Uncle Zack!"

"Sorry we're late; we had engine trouble," Zack said as he knifed a squad of Shadows.

Paine rolled her eyes. "That's the understatement of the year."

"Whatever the case, you're here now!" Sazh set his boy down and whipped out his second gun. "Time to teach the zombies a lesson!"

The three warriors went back-to-back, gunning down and slicing through every Heartless in sight. However, no matter how long or hard they fought, they could not purge the field clean of Heartless. The endless mass of Shadows spawning from Darkside's ruptures in the world's core easily replenished their ranks.

"There's nothing but Shadows left," Paine said as she stabbed the last zombie and strangled it with its own chain. "I say we make a break for it before we're obliterated."

Sazh wiped the sweat from his muddied forehead. "Basch gave us the wrong readings. This world's dying too fast. It had another three days at _least_!"

"Accelerated decay—we've been seeing a lot of this lately."

"Since when?"

"The boys in the sewers are calculating the data. Their reports should be officially released within the next few weeks."

"What causes it?" asked Zack, retrieving a stray dagger and swiftly using it to shish kebab a couple of Shadows.

"The jury's still out on that one." Paine signaled the others and started backing out of the undistinguishable courtyard. What was once a prestigious, vibrant university campus had morphed into a dismal, disintegrating wasteland.

"Let's get to your ship while the getting's good!" she said to Sazh. "Where'd you park it?"

"Mine?" Sazh almost tripped over his feet. "What about yours!"

"It's a smoldering heap of ash."

"Well mine's at the bottom of an Olympic pool!"

"So we'll drain it." Paine made a beeline for the murky pool of sludge in the distance.

"Which part of _Olympic_ don't you get? They built that thing to fit all seven of Poseidon's oceans!"

"I don't think that'll be much of a problem, guys." Zack pointed at the torrent of muddied water whirling into a giant cyclone. "It's heading straight for us!"

"This can't be happening!" Sazh quickly grabbed his son to shield him from the eminent impact.

But Paine and Zack didn't even flinch. They gave each other a quick nod then bolted into action. Paine cast another Aero spell, conjuring a large tornado that spun in the opposite direction. It scooped up Zack, who had drawn his two largest blades and extended them so that they ran perpendicular to his body. Inside the tornado, his blades spun like propellers, which he used to slice into the cyclone and steer towards the gummi ship.

Zack landed on the ship, maintaining his grip by puncturing the side hull with his sword. Dangling on the side of the ship, he breathed in a pocket of air trapped between the whirling currents. He edged his way towards the windshield, jimmied free the canopy and flung himself into the waterlogged cockpit. A few flips of the emergency switch and the thrusters kicked into gear.

The ship broke through the rapid rush of tainted water just as the cyclone merged in full with Paine's tornado. The two forces exploded, hurtling the ship to where it plunged into the ground.

"It's nothing serious," Zack called as he lowered the entry ramp. "Hurry and get in!"

Everyone boarded the ship.

"Darkside's got the core!" said Paine. She slid into the co-pilot's seat and restarted the primary thrusters. "Punch it!"

"Roger!"

Behind the cockpit, Sazh hastily strapped Dajh and himself into their seats. "Hold on tight, son. You know when those two are behind the wheel, things get rough."

"It's like a roller coaster!" Dajh giggled. Now that Zack and Paine were here, his sense of security returned to overshadow his fear of Darkside. He pulled Woody's string to further forget ever having seen the towering Heartless.

"_There's a snake in my boot_!"

"Doesn't that doll say anything else?" Sazh wondered as he clenched his armrests extra hard in preparation for the inevitable kickback.

The world below turned to flaming charcoal. Darkside yanked his enormous hands out of the crumbling ground, hauling out a giant, glowing sphere several times the size of its head. Darkness leeched from the Heartless into the sphere, corrupting its glow. A black, ethereal light pulsated as the orb of energy grew even larger with each passing moment.

"We don't have all day, Fair!" Paine shouted.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Zack pulled back on the joystick as far as he could without breaking it. The ship tilted to an almost 90 degree angle while streaking through the sky.

Meanwhile, Darkside brought the burgeoning orb down close to its chest. It pressed the sphere of dark energy against a heart-shaped cavity that ran the entire length of its torso. The energy melded with the Heartless, sending stray sparks flying across the expanse of the deteriorating world. When Darkside finished devouring the sphere, it detonated, taking the whole world with it.

* * *

The gummi ship rumbled uncontrollably and filled with a strange light—the kind that no mortal eyes were meant to witness. With a serene smile, Sazh gazed at his son, who sat strapped in the chair facing him. When their eyes met, Dajh grinned.

"You know," Sazh thought, "being a single father isn't easy."

Sazh's wife appeared next to their son, smiling and emanating with warmth.

"It's an even harder job during the Apocalypse—you know, what with that whole "end of days, end of civilization" hoopla. But hey, he's smiling, right? He's happy. I did my job."

His wife continued to smile, a blinding light enveloping her body.

Sazh's eyelids grew heavy.

"I just wish…"

His vision blurred.

"…I could've…done more…"

* * *

Somewhere very far yet very near to the chaos imperiling the universe, two men sat opposite each other at a round table. It was a plain table, as they were plain men. And yet hidden beneath the simple exterior there shined something most brilliant—a long forgotten gem.

But such a thing didn't interest these men, who invested all their focus in a consuming game of chess. Since the start of their match, they had not once left the table. Nothing mattered to them but the game, and yet everything mattered to the game itself. It was a vicious reality that left them both empathetic and apathetic simultaneously.

It took long for them to scheme their moves. They seldom exchanged words, for chess is not a game won through diplomacy. When they did speak, however, the pieces quivered in anticipation.

Much time had passed since they last conversed, and yet one man felt compelled to speak now. The words pushed past his reluctant lips too fast for his teeth to bite his tongue.

"You're playing with fire."

"Indeed." The other man—the greyer of the two—did not look up from the board. He rubbed his knight piece between his fingers as he contemplated his next move. After a moment or two, he moved the knight two squares in the shape of an L and tapped the clock.

"It's against the rules."

"It's a reinterpretation."

"An illegal reinterpretation."

Folding his arms, the greyer man leaned back in his chair. A small smile crept across his face. "Sometimes, the rules are their own undoing."

The other man scoffed. "We have rules to create order. You've ruined that order!"

"I've created a reinterpretation—a new order."

"A false order. Fuel for the fire."

"Indeed."

The two men glared at each other for some time. All the while, the clock continued to tick towards the inevitable conclusion. With deep reluctance, the next move was cast.

"I won't let your misconduct slide forever," said the other man as he tapped the clock.

"We'll see…"

* * *

In a place with no sun or moon—a world bathed in perpetual darkness—Andy stood at the precipice of an impossibly high mountain. A cacophony of dying men and scavengers filled the air, spurring the youth closer to the edge. Draped in tattered clothing with his eyes bloodshot and his bones visible against his thinning skin, he was the shell of the bright-eyed, star student prior to his capture.

A group of vultures, ravens, and crows flocked around him. They circled the sky and perched themselves on a nearby withered tree, eying the broken youth as he took another step closer to seal his fate.

Muttering like a madman under his breath, Andy reached the very tip of the cliff. With wide, unblinking eyes, he peered down into the abyss. He watched the swirling darkness below with the same fervor as the birds watched him. His muttering grew louder and louder as he repeated his mantra faster.

Then the rats came and his heart stopped.

"Think about what you're doing," said a cool, conniving voice. "If you fall, you'll die."

Though he was parched and had gone long without food, Andy continued to repeat his mantra.

"Foolish child, come back—come back to your friend."

"There is light in the darkness," muttered Andy. "There is light in the darkness."

The rats scampered about Andy's feet, and he shouted his mantra louder.

"There is light in the darkness!"

"That's all very well and good," crooned the voice. "But come now and return—return to your friend. Play with him; have fun with him—and above all: _tell him your secrets_."

"THERE IS LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS!"

Andy's heart was thumping hard against his chest. He gazed below once more into the darkness.

"Come now—return to your friend," the voice coaxed, both sly and confident. "He's come all the way out here to greet you. It would be rude of you to ignore him any longer."

A large, shadowy figure emerged from the hazy darkness and approached the cliff. It was large and bulky, with an elliptical head and blade-like appendages that jutted from its back.

"Your friend has arrived, dear Andy. Well? Aren't you going to say hello?"

Andy didn't turn around.

"Come play with me, Andy," said the newcomer in a heavy, twisted voice. "There's adventure to be had. We can go to infinity…_and beyond_! Just tell me your secret, little chum, and we can play together for all eternity."

"Yes; play with him, dear Andy."

A rat rubbed up against Andy's leg.

"There is light…in the darkness."

The buzzards cawed.

Andy spread his arms out like an eagle and dove off the cliff.

* * *

A/N: A megalight-year is a million light-years and is typically used to measure the distance between galaxies.

I realize this chapter is long overdue, and perhaps the length doesn't justify the long hiatus. However, what logically flows next is the return to China, and its inclusion here would've clashed with this chapter's tone. If it's any consolation, Ch. 26 will not take nearly as long to release. I guarantee it will be up soon (either next week or the following week).

Now that FFN has implemented the new image manager, I've made covers for all my stories. However, as you've no doubt noticed, the thumbnails are rather small and conceal much of the finer details. To remedy this, I've created a DeviantArt account to display larger versions of these covers. For the URL, see my profile.

A note regarding the new KH Dream Drop Distance (KH3D): As with every other game in the series, BRS will not intentionally include plot points or characters from KH3D. The time frame still stands as incorporating elements from games 1-2 only.

And the final note: I've gotten together with my good friend TheRogueChicken to create some audio commentary for the story. We're still working the kinks out of the program, but the first episode will be out shortly. I'll post a link to it in my profile as well as in the next chapter once we've uploaded it.

If anyone has any questions they'd like to ask about my writing process (aside from my updating schedule) or about any of the philosophical, psychological, or other major themes presented within the story, send me a message and I'll include the best questions in the Q&A portion.

_Edit_: Rogue and I uploaded everything to Youtube. The link is in my profile. This was our first attempt at throwing together a podcast, but we tried to offer a good balance between informative insight and entertainment.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Neither Donald nor Goofy particularly cared for helping Mushu counterfeit a battle report; they couldn't write in Mandarin for one thing, and they knew even less about a renowned, decorated general's etiquette in requesting more troops. Yet there they sat under the pale moonlight, hoping that their feeble efforts would help fulfill the duties given to them by their King. With ink and parchment in hand, they scrawled draft after draft in horrendous penmanship the letter that would usher the camp's ranks straight into the frontlines.

They painted many scrolls, minding their brush strokes and doing everything possible to keep their hands steady. Just one line out of place, and Mushu would strike their hands with a stick. For hours they painted, but their work remained untidy and their wording sloppy. In the end, Mushu threw in the towel.

"You two call this calligraphy?" he said in disdain, grabbing the nearest parchment and smacking it. "This isn't even fit enough to use as lining in my bird cage!"

Goofy raised his hand in objection. "But, uh, you don't have a bird cage."

"Exactly! Where's that songbird I had asked for? You two couldn't even get _that_ order right!" Mush bunched the parchment into a ball and blew steam out of his nose. "Okay, people, let's take it from the top!"

"Aww, write your own stupid letter!" Donald huffed, tossing his brush to the ground and stomping it in a fit of frustration. "I quit!" Not waiting around for Goofy to console him, he stormed off towards the tents.

"Fine, I _will_!" Mushu stuck out his tongue.

"Do ya still want my help?" Goofy asked.

Mushu rubbed his chin. "We'll have to scrap the carrier songbird ruse, but I think I've still got a role for you. What size slip dress do you wear? With those toothpick thighs, it's looking like a double zero."

"Well, err…"

"Wait, what am I thinking? You'll never woo Shang with that ugly mug." Mushu started walking away. "This calls for some heavy-duty measures."

"Hey, where are ya goin'?"

"To get me a _real_ patsy—someone with some pull, some _oomph_. You know what I'm saying?"

"Well, I'll be here if you need me again, ahyuck!"

"Don't hurt yourself," Mushu snickered under his breath.

The camp was relatively quiet that night. Most everyone had retired into their tents save for the night watchmen. Even Sora and Mulan called it a night, not at all convinced that a troublemaker like Mushu would hold the answer to their prayers. They resolved to try reasoning with Shang again in the morning after training, hoping that if they could awe him with their improved combat prowess, he'd perhaps reconsider the Keybearer's counsel.

But Mushu knew better. Shang was too rigid to listen to some kid tossing around an oversized house key. No, he'd only start marching if ordered. But orchestrating the whole ordeal required a certain amount of mettle and wit. With dawn approaching and the cover of night dwindling, Mushu had to think fast if he wanted to make a war hero out of Mulan.

He wandered around the camp in search of a new cohort or dupe. The keen watchmen would never play along with his ruse, however. It would take forever to hoodwink them into doing any sort of dirty work, but the pickings were rather slim. With his hopes dashed, he dragged his feet over to a sizeable rock and squatted beside it.

"That goof of a knight is looking more and more appealing. Maybe if he covered his face with a dainty fan and batted a few eyelashes, he could make even the stiffy captain melt in his boots." The more he turned it over in his scheming mind, the more psyched he became with the idea of Call Girl Goofy. But as he pushed from the rock and started again on his way, a jingling bell from behind the bushes caught his attention. Peeking carefully behind the greenery, Mushu caught sight of an approaching lantern.

A lone soldier marched away from the encampment, singing a soft hymn in an ancient language as a bell on his belt jingled with his every step. He stopped short of the bushes where a collection of smoothed stones was heaped together. Withering scrolls dangled along the base, and atop the heap stood an eroded, curvy slab. The soldier set his lantern down and, after removing his helmet, kneeled in prayer.

Mushu squinted in the flickering light, and upon closer inspection, recognized the faint, yet familiar shape of a dragon's head. The stones were actually statues that had faded away with time. It was not uncommon to find shrines dedicated to the spirits in the forests or along the roadside. The monks of olden times built them all over the world in key strategic places to protect China from evil.

"Fat lot of good that did us what with the Heartless running amuck," Mushu thought. He continued watching the soldier with curiosity as the man bowed his head and chanted a new hymn in a nasally voice.

"O spirit of the Middle Kingdom—heed my prayer! Lend your strength to your brothers' and protect this holy land from the burgeoning Darkness!"

The gears in Mushu's head cranked into full gear, churning out a foolproof scheme like no other. As the soldier continued to spout out his prayers, the tiny dragon snuck around the bushes and ever so carefully readjusted the lantern. While he played around with the lighting, Mushu got a glimpse at the soldier's face—it was Xiao Gen, the Resistance liaison.

"This'll make things a thousand times easier!" Mushu thought with glee. "Praise the ancestors!" When he finished with the lantern, he scurried back to his rock, where the lantern now shed a sort of spotlight across its side.

Just as Gen finished up with the shrine and reached for his helmet, Mushu stepped in front of the light at just the right angle so as to cast an enlarged shadow across the surface of the giant rock.

"Xiao Gen!" he said in a mighty voice.

"Who's there?" Startled, Gen reached for his sword.

"It is I—the dragon spirit you've been praying to!"

Gen jumped as he laid eyes on Mushu's shadow. Not believing what he saw, he took a double take. "Can it be the great spirit Shenlong?" he said taking a cautious step forward.

"Don't take another step or else I—Shenlong—will smite you with my fiery might!"

"But Honorable Shenlong, I thought you were the mighty spirit of the rains?"

"Uh, um…Yes! I am! But this is an emergency. The Heartless killed the original fire spirit."

Gen's face went livid. "Has the Darkness seeped into the Heavens?"

"Man, he's just eating this stuff up!" Mushu thought, giving himself a mental pat on the back. "And now for the punch line."

Mushu drew closer to the flame, making his fearsome head larger across the rock to accentuate his fangs. "Yes, and it'll continue to seep, sap, and saunter all around the world unless you do something!"

"Of course—anything! I am but your humble servant," Gen said, kneeling. "I shall do whatever you ask of me, Great Spirit!"

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about—unconditional loyalty. I want y'all to get your army marching by tomorrow morning and no later. The fate of China depends on it!"

"Mobilize the army? To where, using what strategy?"

"What do I look like—a psychic?" Mushu hissed, flaring out his tongue. "I'm just the guardian spirit of rain and fire, not some hag with a crystal ball! Go find that General Li of yours and fight you up some Huns! They've gotta be around here somewhere."

"Pardon me for saying so," Gen said, taking a keen glance around the area, "but you don't sound as eloquent as I assumed an ancient spirit would sound."

"Don't sound _eloquent_?" Mushu just about exploded. "Now you listen here, Mr. Fancy-Armor-Pants! There I was—slaving over a stormy rain cloud, working my butt off so all your crops can grow and be bountiful—when some cross-eyed Heartless started ripping apart the Heavens. Would _you_ waste time being all proper and sophisticated with Shadows clawing out your eyeballs?"

"I suppose not, but—"

"I didn't _think_ so! Now get out of here and march those troops!"

Mushu erupted into flames, using the fire as cover to duck out of the lantern's limelight.

Gen rose to his feet and collected his wayward lantern, nearly catching glimpse of Mushu as the tiny dragon scurried away. "As you wish," he said with quick bow before starting on the path back to the camp.

* * *

When Gen returned to his tent, he paused outside for moment to pull a tiny bell from his belt. He rang it three times across the guardian lion statues planted at the entrance to clear the air of foul spirits before opening the flap. Inside, he said a small prayer then set his sword on a wooden stand, topping it with his dragon-themed helmet.

Before he sat down, he took a burning stick of incense from beside his cot and waved it around to further cleanse the atmosphere. When a thin layer of smoke filled the tent, Gen replaced the incense in its bronze holder and took a seat at a small, polished table tucked away in the corner. With his eyes closed and his hands cupped in his lap, he meditated for a bit over what had transpired between himself the spirit dragon.

Gen continued his moment of reflection until just an hour before dawn. After pouring some tea and fetching a fresh piece of parchment, he wrote a short letter and stamped it with an official seal. He examined his work, and after finding no fault, turned towards a small shrine opposite his table. Again he waved the incense, this time setting it to rest at the foot of a miniature, golden statue.

After saying a prayer, Gen prepared to deliver the order to Shang. He grabbed his gear and left the tent. Outside, he again practiced his aura cleansing ritual by ringing the tiny bell before continuing on his way in the direction of the rising sun.

"Ah, Gen; you're here." Shirtless, the captain came out of his tent with a stack of buckets in hand just as Gen approached. "Today's regimen calls for another hike up the river. Call the men to fetch their equipment, will you?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Shang." Gen stopped in front of the captain, barring his path. He stood tall with his posture firm as he extended the scroll.

Shang's countenance contorted in confusion, as he looked from the scroll back to Gen. "What is this?"

"A formal order to mobilize your troops."

"_Excuse me_?"

"You heard me."

With mouth slightly agape, Shang set the buckets to the ground and took hold of the scroll. He slowly opened it, eyes continuing to dart between message and messenger.

"Have you lost your mind?" said Shang once he finished reading. "These men are still too green!"

"And you've done a fine job training them these past few weeks. You've mentioned yourself how far they've come. I trust they are ready for war."

"It's true that their skills have vastly improved, but their training is not yet complete. These men require another two weeks at least before I send them to the frontlines." Shang shoved the scroll back into Gen's hands and went for his buckets.

"You dare defy a direct order from the Imperial Court?" Gen said, tone firm and commanding. "By the authority invested in me by his Honorable Highness the Emperor, I order you to immediately mobilize all troops and begin march into the forest."

"You may have authority from the Emperor, but I'm still the commander of this company. My answer is no."

"Is there nothing that can convince you otherwise?"

"Nothing you have to offer. I will only go where ordered by the General."

"Very well. I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this," Gen said with a sorrowful sigh. He unsheathed his sword. "Captain Li Shang, for failing to comply with a direct order from your superior, you are hereby charged with insubordination."

Shang squeezed the wooden buckets tight enough for them to crack. "Gen…"

"The punishment for which…is _death_."

* * *

Somewhere over the mountains near the Imperial Court long before the sun was set to rise, Colonel Jihl Nabaat's helicopter silently hovered close enough to the dead forest so as the colonel could peer down with her night vision binoculars. As she gazed at the devastation that the Manticore had caused, a devious grin sprouted across her lips.

"I do wonder," she said to her nearby subordinate, "however shall we collect the data from Thoroughbred?" She swerved her gaze south of the forest where it landed on Shang's training camp. Her grin widened.

"Having second thoughts, ma'am?" asked the subordinate.

"No; today's the day his Eminence has long awaited. We mustn't deprive him, dear Captain. To do so is to hang the albatross from our necks." Jihl capped her binoculars and handed them to a grunt before taking her seat opposite the captain.

"Then what's the problem?"

"Thoroughbred still refuses to play by the rules. He needs some coaxing."

"Say the word, and my men will deploy."

"No, Captain; I have an even better idea." With a sadistic cackle, Jihl pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose—the light reflecting off her lenses hiding her cunning eyes. "Fetch me a cadaver."

"Ma'am!"

In mechanical fashion, the captain unbuckled from his seat and jumped out of the chopper. Three men followed him.

Jihl watched the soldiers parachute into the desecrated field. "Foolish, little pawns—you can move anywhere you want, but your destinies will forever make you slaves to the board."

* * *

The dawn's light stretched across the training camp. Even so, the morning horn had not sounded. Neither Gen nor Shang gave the order to wake the troops. They stood locked in a stare-down, waiting to see who would move first.

"You'd kill me over this?" Shang said in disgust. "And you call yourself an honorable advisor to the Emperor!"

"The Darkness is growing to consume the world," Gen replied with a thrust of his sword. "We've run out of time! The spirits themselves will this to be our course!"

"The _spirits_? You're sending these men to their graves all because of some old fairytales? Get a grip, Gen! Wars aren't waged or won by myths; real men fight real wars and lose real lives. The Huns must come before the Heartless!"

"It isn't a myth, Shang! For once, open your eyes to the truth of this world. Nothing is as it seems! Your very senses were crafted to deceive you!"

"If everything I see and feel is a lie, then so too is my life." Shang dropped his buckets and kicked a nearby training sword into his hand. "Come at me, and we'll see which truth reality favors."

The two warriors peered deep into each other's fiery eyes. Beads of sweat ran down their contorted faces as they visualized the upcoming battle in their minds. Neither man desired to strike the other, but their stern beliefs forced them to an impasse. A heavy moment of silence passed, and with a roaring start, the warriors swung their swords only to stop millimeters from the collision. The cry of an approaching watchman stole the moment, and the warriors silently welcomed the interruption.

"Urgent news from General Li! We're to mobilize!" shouted the watchman, who waved a bloodstained scroll in his hand and effectively ended the debate.

"Let me see that," Shang said with a scowl, lowering his sword. He tore the letter away from the guard and read it with feverish drive.

"You got lucky, Gen," the captain grumbled before tossing the scroll at Gen and retreating into his tent.

Gen quickly read the message—a summons from the general for his son's company to meet him on the field. "Where did you get this?"

"A foot soldier delivered it. He's been critically injured; we've got him in the med tent."

Sheathing his sword, Gen hurried to the med tent. But by the time he arrived, the doctor had already covered the corpse with a sheet.

"What happened to him?" Gen asked the doctor.

"Multiple fractures, lacerations, and internal bleeding," he replied. "It's a wonder how he made it this far."

"Was it the Huns?"

"I couldn't say for sure." He paused, then added, "However, I did find something peculiar…"

The doctor lifted the sheet to expose the soldier's head. A painful expression contorted his graying skin. His eyes were still open, peering up at the living with a glassy, mortified gaze.

"You see this here?" said the doctor while tilting the head to give a better view of the back. A swollen abscess protruded from the base of the neck.

"What's so interesting about that?"

"Nothing from your standpoint. It only just formed after he expired."

"I don't follow."

"There was a gaping wound here that should have remained after the soldier's death. Instead, long after he perished, this abscess formed. Do you understand now? His body shouldn't respond to wounds postmortem!"

"Ah!" Gen flinched at the realization. "What causes such a thing?"

"I couldn't say for sure," the doctor repeated. "But there's something else." He paused for a moment to clean his round spectacles using a clean cloth.

"What's the matter?" Gen asked, taking note of the doctor's trembling hands.

"It's his body…" The doctor paused for a moment to readjust his glasses. "It has suffered hypostasis."

"Which is…?"

"A sign of death."

"But he _is_ dead."

"I noticed it as they brought him in—while he was still conscious. Hypostasis typically appears in its complete form 6-12 hours _after death_."

Gen's eyes widened. "What madness is this? Could the Heartless be responsible?"

"I couldn't say."

"But you're a doctor!"

"Yes, and in all my years, I have never once seen a man—who should by every right be dead—cross through the wilderness to deliver a message then expire almost instantaneously." The doctor replaced the sheet over the corpse's head. "I would advise we burn the body. Whatever this _thing_ is, it may rise again."

"Make it so," Gen replied in a solemn tone. "Just one thing: no one else must know about this."

"What about the Captain?"

"I will tell him myself."

"Very well." The doctor disappeared further into the large tent to make preparations for the pyre.

His mind burdened with worry, Gen left the tent in deep thought.

* * *

Back outside, the morning horn finally sounded. The weary soldiers rolled out of bed for another day of grueling exercises. But when they emerged from their tents, they found Captain Li donned in full armor atop a wooden platform in the center of the camp.

"What's going on?" Sora asked as he met up with his friends.

"I'm not sure," Mulan replied, "but for whatever reason, Mushu couldn't stop grinning when I woke up."

"Gawrsh, you don't think he managed to write his own letter, do ya?" Goofy ventured a guess.

"Something _way_ better than that," Mushu bragged as he stuck his head out from Mulan's armor.

"Mushu!" She hurriedly stuffed him back inside just as Yao passed by with a glare.

"Ping," he nodded, to which Mulan nervously smiled and waved.

The soldiers murmured among each other for some time until Shang signaled for quiet.

"Everyone, the time has finally come," the captain said in a loud enough for all to hear. "You are no longer raw recruits. From this day forward, you are _soldiers_!"

The men cheered—some out of pride, others relieved that they no longer had to endure the harsh training.

"And as soldiers," Shang continued, "you must utilize what you've learned here to protect China from the Huns. We have been given orders by General Li to join his troops in the mountains. Split into your squads and begin packing up camp. We're to start marching by high noon."

"YES SIR!" shouted the men before dispersing all across the camp. They uprooted their tents, packed their supplies, and readied their horses for the journey ahead.

While Donald and Goofy helped load cannons into Khan's cart, Sora borrowed a map to trace the path they'd take. "Let's see, this is the camp, and that's the Tung Shao Pass…and that's where we first landed!"

"What're you doing, Sora?" Mulan asked as she dropped off another stack of cannons for the cart.

"Trying to see if we'd cross along Axel's path. He has to be somewhere on our way to the mountains."

Mulan took a moment to study the map. "He could be anywhere, Sora; there's a lot of ground to cover."

"I know, but I won't give up." Sora handed the map to a passing soldier and picked up a crate of explosives. "He's out there somewhere. He has to be."

When the soldiers finished with the camp, nothing remained but a large fire used to dispose of evidence of their presence. The doctor—who had long finished disguising the tainted corpse as trash—drew little attention to himself as he disposed the body atop the flaming heap. When all had turned to ash, soldiers doused the fire and Shang gave the signal commencing the journey into the jungle.

Shang led the troops, with Gen riding several feet behind him. The two exchanged few words since their confrontation, though Gen did mention the incident with the messenger. His words fell on deaf ears, however. Shang's interests in Gen's "tall-tales"—as he called them—altogether depleted. Though he continued to acknowledge the Keyblade's use, he would never agree in its mandatory presence, nor would he acquiesce to the possibility of dark magicks responsible for a dead man's reanimation.

The tension between the two highest-ranking officers did not go unnoticed. Rumors of their disagreement spread like wildfire among the marching men, with whispers eventually reaching Sora's group.

"Hey, did ya hear?" said Ling to his buddies. "They're saying Gen's gonna get court-martialed when we return to the Capital!"

"That's not what I heard," said Chien-Po. "Apparently, the Captain snuck a bite out of Gen's food, and now they're plotting to kill each other."

Yao scoffed. "That's all a bunch of sissy stuff! Everyone knows Gen's out to make General, and he's looking to break Li's pretty-boy neck to do it."

"What are you guys talking about?" Mulan inquired. "Did something happen between Gen and Shang?"

"Some guard said he saw them ready to slice each other in half this morning," Ling replied. "Now they won't even look at each other."

"Well there goes any sense of team morale," Donald quacked. "If we can't trust the bosses to play nice, what hope do the rest of us have? I say it's every man for himself! Rebel!"

Goofy quickly snapped Donald's beak shut. "Quiet, Donald! We're finally gettin' somewhere with this here mission. Don't go spoilin' it!"

"Phooey!"

"I wonder what they fought over," Sora wanted to say, but his words died in his throat. The rich green path turned black under the soldiers' feet as they came to an abrupt exit out of the luscious forest and stepped onto the desecrated field.

The foreboding aura emanating from the misty arena of death startled the horses, almost tossing their riders from their saddles. Shang tried to calm his horse, but grew just as tense when he recognized the armor of a nearby heap of corpses.

"These…are my father's men!"

Shang jumped off his neighing horse and ran through the thicket of bodies. It didn't take long for him to find the fallen general's helm and sword. After a moment of silence, he wordlessly took his father's sword and struck it into the ground, crowning it with its matching helmet. He then kneeled before the makeshift shrine bowed with a prayer in his heart.

* * *

_I hear drumming sometimes. It's like a forgotten lullaby trying to creep back into my life. I can't block it out anymore. It's coming in too strong._

_The winds of war are carrying the marching band, sweeping it across my path. I don't have a choice but to listen._

_I miss the gentle sea breeze._

_I miss my island._

_But… I know I can't be an island anymore. The marching band is howling._

_I want to lead my own band._

* * *

A jagged shard of horror punctured Sora's heart, shivering him to the bone and freezing him like a sculpture. As he gazed upon the mass of fallen warriors, a cacophony of dreadful thoughts polluted his mind, plunging him into despair. The answer to the long-pondered question of Axel's whereabouts streaked down his cheek in a single drop. What little confidence found Sora during his few weeks of intense training hit the ground harder than his buckling knees and slithered away into the hazy mist.

Sickness found him in the barren dirt, where he punched his fist raw. Failure framed the noose that stifled his breathing. He couldn't save Axel; he couldn't save the soldiers; _he couldn't save anyone_.

"Sora…?"

A comforting hand found the wounded Keybearer's shoulder. Sora reluctantly moved to look up at Goofy, who alone stood by his side gazing down at him with sincere worry.

"It's no good, Goofy. You and Donald have the wrong guy. I'm nobody's chosen one."

"That's not true."

"Look at this, Goofy—look at all of these men!" Sora said almost in hysterics. "Don't you remember this forest? It used to be thick with plants and stuff; now it's all dead! The Heartless did all this, and I couldn't stop them."

Sora hung his head, looking away as his eyes blurred with tears. "And then there's Axel… He believed in me, and now he's gone. Jiminy, too."

"We don't know that for sure, yet," Goofy said, even though he knew it was a long shot. "They could still be out there. We didn't find the…well, _proof_ yet."

"I don't think so, Goofy. It's hopeless."

"Now listen, Sora," Goofy said as he slid down into the ashen dirt next to his friend. "The worlds are goin' to a dark place these days. It ain't easy to look at it, but everything you see here is happenin' all across the universe. This is what we're fightin'. It's what the Heartless _do_."

"But, Goofy—"

"Just hear me out. No one ever said this was gonna be easy. It's terrifyin' stuff lookin' at all these poor folks who've gone and lost their hearts. Heck, sometimes I think the Darkness makes itself so scary 'cuz it doesn't _want_ us to fight back! Wouldn't _that_ be easy? But you've gotta stand yer ground and say enough is enough. Giving up before you've gone the distance—it's a wonder you came this far at all."

"How far _have_ I come?" Sora murmured.

"Well, uh, let's see…" Goofy rolled up his eyes in thought. "You've killed a giant beast, diverted a doomsday attack, reformed a lost soul, and fended off several mobs of Heartless—and you did it all in less than a month. Ahyuck, even King Mickey's track record isn't as impressive!"

Sora let out an empty laugh. "I still failed a friend." He looked up at Goofy with dejected eyes. "He came to me for help, and I let him down."

"Axel wanted to keep you safe; he knew how important you are. If you don't fight, Axel would've givin' it all for nothin'. Is that what you want? Do you want his sacrifice to mean nothin' at all?"

"No…" Sora sighed. He fell into silence for a moment then asked, "Why did the Keyblade choose me?"

"Had to've been for a good reason. You just can't tell yet 'cuz you've only just gotten the thing." Goofy gave Sora a good pat on the back. "Keep yer chin up, Sora. Donald and I're here so you don't have'ta do everythin' yourself. All for one and one for all, remember?"

"Yeah…" Sora took a deep breath and pushed himself off the ground, discreetly wiping his eyes dry. "Yeah, you're right, Goofy."

In a burst of white light, the Keyblade materialized in Sora's hand. He held the blade high, the sunlight reflecting from its polished, metal surface cutting through the mist.

"The worlds are in danger, and somewhere out there, Riku and Kairi are depending on me to find them. I'll fight and win this time—for Axel and Jiminy."

Goofy nodded. "For Axel and Jiminy."

The two friends returned side-by-side to where Donald eagerly awaited them. With a scrunched beak and crossed arms, the cranking magician glared at his approaching comrades.

"You were talking about _him_, weren't you?" Donald quacked.

"He was our friend, Donald," said Sora. "And now he's…"

"Aww, forget him! You two with your 'boo-hoo Axel' this and that! You've probably forgotten all about Jiminy!"

"Now that's not true, Donald," Goofy replied. "We've lost two good friends here, and it's only proper that we all mourn them together."

Donald's frown deepened. "Then why'd you leave me alone with lovey-dovey Mulan? She can't stop blabbing on about how bad she feels for Shang and how he needs a hug and _blah_! Just go talk to the guy and get it over with already!" He threw his arms in the air and started quacking incoherently for a bit, leaving Sora and Goofy baffled.

"Is it just me, or are his feathers more ruffled than usual?" said Sora.

"It's probably the gloomy atmosphere makin' 'im edgy," Goofy ventured to guess. "Don't take him too seriously."

"Believe me, I'm trying not to." While Goofy went off to quiet Donald, Sora took a quick look around. "Hey, speaking of Mulan, where is she?"

* * *

"I'm sorry, Shang," said Gen with a stroke of his long beard as he approached the bowing captain. "But I warned you. It may sound cruel, but perhaps this is your punishment for doubting the spirits."

Without so much as looking at Gen, Shang rose to his feet and walked away. He ordered the nearest group of soldiers to search for survivors, despite the terrible odds. Mulan greeted him as he returned to his horse.

"I am so sorry," she said, not even trying to sound manly.

His eyes thanked her as he patted her shoulder and remounted.

After some time passed and it grew apparent that no one survived the massacre, Shang rallied his troops. "We're China's last hope," he declared. "We will continue into the mountains, and from there, to the Tung Shao Pass."

And so the army marched through the wasteland, its morale plummeting with every passing moment. Whispers of ghouls and evil spirits spread faster than the gossip from earlier.

Ling in particular shivered with fright at every little shadow in sight. To cheer himself up, chatted up the guys about their ideal woman. Soon enough, everyone jumped on the bandwagon to brag about the special little ladies waiting for them back home.

"So how 'bout you, Sora?" Ling asked the Keybearer with a sly jab to the ribs. "Got a dainty, little number you're fighting for?"

"Well, not really," Sora replied with a bashful rub of his neck.

"Oh, come on! Not even a teensy-weensy girl you're always thinking about?"

Sora never thought about things like that much. He spent most of his days lazing away in the sun and playing fun games with his best friends. But now that he was pressed, it did occur to him that he thought a lot about Kairi. Although, that probably had more to do with the fact that the Darkness devoured their home and she was lost somewhere in the sea of space.

Thankfully, Sora didn't have to answer. Ling grew bored during the long period of introspection and jumped ship to Ping, who pretty much sank his boat altogether.

"How about a girl who always speaks her mind?" Mulan offered with a feeble smile.

Ling just shook his head in defeat.

Eventually, the men ascended a grassy slope lush with vegetation and wildlife. Roads not traveled by the barbarians soothed the spirits of the unnerved, weary soldiers as they trudged on towards the frigid peaks. Yet as they passed a thick patch of trees, Sora caught a flash of orange in the corner of his eye. He craned his neck back to get a better look.

"That's weird…"

"What is?" Donald asked.

"I thought I saw… a pumpkin."

"A pumpkin way out here?" Donald spun around to take a gander only to catch sight of a red-faced monkey shaking its tail at him. "That's not a pumpkin—it's just a stupid monkey!"

"It wasn't that, it was—oh, forget it," Sora grumbled. "Maybe I was just seeing things."

The army carried on through a valley, crossed a riverbank, and climbed through a mountain pass all before the sunset. Before the day's end, they reached the snowcapped mountaintop. It was then that Shang signaled the men to make camp.

"We'll spend the night here and continue through to the Tung Shao Pass at daybreak," he said. "We should be able to reach the Capital by noon tomorrow."

A chilling gust of wind blew threw the mounting. The men donned heavy coats over their armor to keep from freezing as they pitched their tents and started a fire. They hammered poles into the icy rock to tie up their horses. All the wagons and supply carts were stationed near the captain's tent.

Gen insisted on pitching his own tent. He gazed across the starry sky, and with a thoughtful stroke of his black beard, traced the approximate location of where the sign of the dragon met the ground. He fixed his tent there, setting up his Foo Dogs at the entrance. Inside, he lit a new stick of incense to cleanse the air.

After overseeing the camp's installation, Shang made his way to Gen's tent. "Take a group of scouts and survey the perimeter," he ordered from outside, and left before Gen could reply.

Gen donned his dragon-faced helmet and secured his sword. Three chimes of the bell on his belt heralded his reemergence from the tent where he set off to find Sora.

"Come help me scout the area," he said to the Keybearer, who had just finished fetching rice for the chef.

"Can I pass? I'm kind of tired." Sora rubbed his throbbing legs that chapped in the cold wind. Unlike everyone else, he didn't have long pants or a fur coat that draped down to his ankles.

"Are you kidding? Now's our chance for some action!" Donald quacked. He gave Sora push away from the fire. "Let's go!"

Sora sighed and summoned the Keyblade. "Alright."

Goofy and Mulan tagged along as well, and together the team searched the perimeter for Heartless and Huns. With torches in hand to light the way, they traveled a good distance from the encampment without seeing any signs of life, and Sora breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can we go now?" he half wheezed. "I'm really tired."

"Fortune smiles upon us friends; the darkness has yet to corrupt the purity of this snow." Gen rang his bell three times into the night sky.

"I've been meanin' to ask ya, Gen: what's with the bells?" Goofy inquired.

"It brings forth good chi—that is, life-force energy," Gen replied.

"And what about those funny lookin' statues yer always puttin' up outside yer tent?"

"Guardian lions for protection."

"Gawrsh, does any of that stuff work?"

"Indeed it does," Gen said while fondly rolling the bell in his hand. "When I was a boy, I grew deathly ill. The doctor could do nothing for me but pray. But my mother would not give up so easily. She fetched a priest from the nearest temple—one three days away by horse. When the priest examined me, he told my mother that an evil spirit had made its home in my body."

"That's awful!" everyone gasped.

"How'd they cure you?" asked Donald. "Magic?"

"Not the type you're thinking of," replied Gen. "They priest performed an exorcism using this very bell." He gave the bell another jingle. "After a long, strenuous ceremony, the priest banished the evil spirit from within me, and within days, I was well enough to stand."

Sora stared at the bell in awe. "That's amazing."

"Yes, but I do believe your Keyblade is even more amazing, Sora. You'll perform wondrous deeds—of that I'm certain."

"I hope you're right…"

No sooner had the Keyblade been mentioned when shadows pooled at the warriors' feet. The Heartless sprang from the darkness and attacked in full force. After enduring Shang's grueling training regime, however, Sora and his friends didn't even break a sweat in dispatching their foes. The first wave dispersed with ease, but more followed.

Harder-hitting centaurs spawned, accompanied by Neoshadows galore. The team split up to cover more ground and prevent the Heartless from breeching the perimeter. Sora and Mulan took one side, while Goofy and Donald helped box them in from the other.

As the lone wolf, Gen slashed his way through the Neoshadows. But one escaped his crushing blow. It melted into a black puddle and retreated away from the swordsman. Gen chased the wayward Heartless to a small cave where a haunting howl echoed from its bowels. He held his torch high as he followed the shadow within.

Sora and the others soon finished clearing the area of centaurs, sending the last one packing into the air where they all jumped up to hack it simultaneously. A stream of liberated hearts filled the sky until they disappeared.

"Heh, we sure showed those Heartless!" Donald said with a smug wave of his wand.

"I'm really tired," Sora half yawned. He used his Keyblade as a crutch to keep himself from flopping face-first into the snow. "Can we go now?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Mulan agreed. "But where's Gen?"

A loud scream coming from the direction of the cave answered her question. Everyone rushed towards the commotion, though Sora trailed behind for a bit until Goofy lent him a shoulder.

When they reached the cave, they called out to Gen. But no reply came. Mulan was about to go charging in when a tiny Shadow hobbled out and peered up at the towering warriors. It cocked its little head to the side and blinked before getting slashed in half by Gen's sword.

"Gen, are you okay?" Mulan asked.

Gen paused for a moment, his sword extended at his side as he stared at Mulan for some time. He then tilted his head to look at the others, particularly at Sora who continued to rely on his Keyblade for support.

"Gen?"

Gen gave a thumbs-up. "Let us go," he said, then sheathed his sword and marched on ahead of everyone else.

"You don't think he's hurt and too proud to say it, do you?" Mulan whispered to the others.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Donald quacked.

"He's probably just—" Sora let out a big yawn. "…Just tired."

"It's been too long of a day for all of us," Goofy added. "A good night's sleep is what we all need."

When the reached the camp, Mulan and the other's saw Gen off at his tent. He gave them a wave goodnight then disappeared into his tent.

"I hope the trek through the Pass tomorrow isn't too bad," Sora groaned. "I don't think my body can take it."

"Just think: when we get to the Imperial City, you'll be able to relax and eat good food," said Mulan.

"Sounds great…" Sora dozed off against Goofy's shoulder.

"We're gonna head to bed now," said Goofy. "G'night, Ping!"

"Good night, guys."

The friends parted ways and headed back to their tents, unbeknownst of the one watching them. High in the mountains on a precipice overlooking the camp, Colonel Nabaat watched the events below unfold through her night vision binoculars.

"And so it begins." With a cunning grin, she turned to a nearby aide. "Commence the operation."

* * *

A/N: TheRogueChicken and I finished our first audio commentary for _Broken Shield_. You can find the information in my profile under 8/12's update information. Please let us know what you think. Also, if you have any questions you'd like to ask about the story, send me a message and I'll include the answers in the next commentary.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Deep within China's jungle, the sun's rays bathed the thick vegetation in a healthy, radiant light. The wildlife reverberations played like music to Sora's ears as he traveled a secluded dirt path through the thicket. Without the mobbed, marching soldiers to obstruct his view, he could take the time to appreciate the floral differences between China and Destiny Island.

Some of the flowers bloomed in shades he never thought possible, and the variety of insects crawling around their petals fascinated him all the more. Some monkeys ran through the bushes, taking an occasional nibble from a flower or odd fruit, while a group of tiny dragons sat around gnawing on strips of jerky.

"They're really something else, aren't they? Those dragons I mean."

Sora hummed. "I thought dragons only ate rice porridge."

"Maybe where you're from. These lumps of leather just laze around all day chowing down on sun-dried beef. It's kind of funny, really."

Sora watched a little dragon scarf down a strip of bacon and grab another. "Hey, Axel…" he said, turning around.

"What?" Axel was standing right behind him, twirling a coconut in his hand like a basketball.

"It's kind of weird, but we have some of these plants on my island."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah—like coconut trees," he said, pointing to the tree next to Axel.

"Coconuts are fun," Axel shrugged, as if that explained everything.

"It even has a seagull egg on top of it!"

Sora ran at the tree trunk and climbed to the top. When he got there, three mushrooms and a large jar of water had replaced the egg.

"I didn't realize these grew here, too. Just like on my island."

Looking beyond the collection nestled within the tree's supportive leaves, Sora caught sight of something even more interesting in the distance. "Axel, look!" he said as he slid down to the ground. "Come over here!" He led the way further down the trail to an even larger palm tree that was rich with bright, yellow produce.

"It's a paopu tree!" Sora exclaimed. He gazed up in awe at the ripe, star-shaped fruit. The last time he saw one was right before the Heartless destroyed his home. "What are the odds they'd have paopu growing in China? Maybe our worlds are connected in more ways than I thought…"

"Maybe." Axel twirled his coconut on the tip of his finger where it morphed into a pumpkin. "It's all one sky, you know. Anywhere you go—it's all the same."

"I never thought of it like that…"

A cold wind blew in, heralding clouds that eclipsed the sun. Sora shivered and rubbed the palms of his hands together to warm up. The clouds above soon turned black, with rolling thunder not far behind.

"It looks like rain," Sora remarked. "Do you think Riku and Kairi are looking at the same sky?"

"Nah. They're dead."

Axel tossed away his pumpkin. It rolled along the dirt where it sprouted fuzzy limbs and a long, furry tail. Chunks of pumpkin popped out of the gourd's front, as if an invisible knife carved out a face. Its devilish eyes burned with an ethereal flame that mesmerized the Keyblade master. He stood transfixed by its gaze until the ungodly creature screeched at him and, with a thumbs-up, scampered off into the jungle.

"But you don't know they're dead!" Sora contended, returning to the conversation as if never interrupted. "We're trying to find them, aren't we?"

"Now, Sora," said Jiminy, who hopped onto his shoulder, "denial isn't healthy for the heart. It's time to fess up about what you did and move on."

"What did I do?" Sora asked, confused.

Heralded by a flash of lightning, a six-armed figure jumped from the paopu tree. Riku stepped out of the shadows, carrying a unique item in each pair of hands: a blitzball, a jump rope, and a practice sword. A fine layer of fish scales covered his skin and sparkled with each bolt of lightning.

"You abandoned us," he sneered, crushing the items in his hands and pulverizing them into dust that blew away with the wind.

"That's not true, Riku!" Sora shouted.

"You should've taken my hand."

"The darkness pulled us apart. I couldn't reach you!"

"It's no use, Sora. The score's set at 0-to-1000000. You lose."

The scales across Riku's body grew larger and more defined. Water gushed out of his body as he transformed into a pile of wriggling fish.

"Riku, no!" Sora fell to his knees trying to collect the fish and piece his friend back together. But it was no use. The slippery things wiggled out of his grasp every time and flopped away into the bushes.

"What's the problem, kid?" Axel asked.

"I've let down my friends…"

"Pfft, who needs friends?" Axel placed his arm around Sora's shoulders as the kid got to his feet. "They're notorious for doing _this_!" Before Sora realized what was going on, Axel had spun him around and stabbed him in the chest with a flaming dagger.

"_Why_?"

His face dark and twisted, Axel let out a sadistic laugh. "Why not? It's not like you've helped me or anything!"

"But I… I tried to…" Sora panted. He stumbled over to a nearby tree while clasping at the handle jutting from his chest. But as he made to lean on the tree, it disappeared and Sora fell onto a hard, wooden floor. A powerful breeze blew past him, spraying him with seawater. No longer in the jungles of China, he was floating on a small raft in the middle of the ocean.

"Sora, what happened to you?"

A hand reached out and grabbed the dagger. Sora gasped in pain as Axel removed the blade and tossed it overboard.

"Are you okay?" he asked with earnest concern. His features had grown lighter, contorted only with wrinkles of worry.

"I think so," Sora groaned.

Axel averted his gaze in disgust. "I'm sorry, Sora; I couldn't protect you." He stood up and edged his way to the tip of the raft. "I'm gonna go now, okay? It's what I deserve."

"But you can't swim!"

"I know." Axel smiled and stepped off the raft. With a large splash, he hit the water like a rock.

Sora screamed after his friend, but the roaring tide drowned out his voice. A terrible storm loomed overhead, pelting the sea with bullet-like raindrops. Large waves emerged from the ocean and crashed into the tiny raft. Sora crawled to the center to avoid going overboard. He sat hunched, cradling his head and shivering from the howling winds.

"How 'bout this one?" Goofy and Donald suddenly pulled up alongside the raft in their gummi ship with the canopy open. "He looks kinda ripe, ahyuck!"

"Are you kidding me, Goofy?" Donald quacked. "Look at those poofy pants and clownish shoes! The King's looking for someone with more meat and mettle!" He kicked the ship into gear and blasted out of there. The explosion from the thrusters capsized the raft, sending Sora plunging into the cold, watery depths where he offered little resistance against the current.

"It's over for me," Sora thought as his body sank through the briny blue. He felt a heaviness across his chest, spanning around his shoulders and weighing him down like an anchor.

"_Don't lose faith_."

Sora opened his eyes to look for the source of the mysterious voice. The sea had darkened, with but a few rays of light penetrating from the surface. As he glanced around, Sora could see no one other than himself. Yet just when he resigned himself to defeat, a small seashell fluttered down to hover near his head.

"_Everything's going to be okay_," said the seashell. "_Open your door to me and I can help you_."

As the shell floated just inches above his nose, Sora felt compelled to reach out to it. As if a magnetic force pulled his hand, he clutched the shell and clasped it to his heart. At once a powerful, blinding light erupted from his chest. When Sora's vision returned, he was no longer sinking in the sea, but falling through an endless twilit sky. A cool wind rushed through his hair and ruffled his clothes as he plummeted through several clouds.

The sky grew darker the longer he fell, with no land in sight until a peculiar structure appeared in the distance. Sora streaked through the air, gravity propelling him towards an antiquated set of double-doors. The tarnished bronze doors floated in midair, with no visible destination aside from the continuing plunge through the blackening sky. Sora tumbled through the air in an effort to avoid impact, but no matter how hard he tried to steer away, something compelled his body to stay on course.

The shell resting against his chest pulsated, and as soon as the doors drew near, Sora let go of the shell. It twinkled with an ethereal glow as it plummeted. But just as it hit the doors, it disappeared.

Sora didn't have the same luck. He crashed into the tarnished metal, his face pressing hard into its elaborate design. With a groan, he lifted his head. A crown emblem impressed itself upon his cheek, rendering it pink and sore. He stared at the doors for some time, and then peered over the sides to gaze into the endless abyss. The only way was to go through the doors, but no matter how hard he tried at the handles, they wouldn't budge. He tried knocking, then pounding and calling out for someone to open them, but he acted in vain. The shell was gone, leaving him all alone.

Giving the doors one last, feeble pound, Sora buried his face into his arms and wondered what to do next. He remained motionless for some time until a sudden tug sent his body streaking down the bronze frame. Making a grab for a handle, he missed it by several inches and instead dug his fingers into an engraved panel. His legs dangled off the edge of the doors while the mysterious force continued to weigh on him. It tugged and pulled, weighing his body down with increasing strength.

But Sora refused to let go. He clung to the panel for as long as he could before the force grew too unbearable. His fingers slipped free of the groove, sending him tumbling helplessly into the black abyss.

* * *

"Don't worry. I'm always with you."

* * *

Sora awoke with a gasp, rolling defensively off his sleeping mat and into the snow. It took a few seconds for the haze to lift from his mind. When he regained his bearings, he slipped back onto his mat and hunched over in thought. The vivid dream stayed with him until its freshness wilted, and what little details he could recall blew away like sand in the wind. His attempts to focus were stifled by Goofy and Donald's earsplitting snores.

With a yawn, Sora resigned himself to further sleep. He put his thoughts to the side and lay back on his mat. But as he closed his eyes, a sudden scream sent him rocketing to his feet. Grabbing his shoes, he haphazardly strapped them on and shook his friends from their slumber.

"Someone's in trouble, guys!" he said before stumbling out of the tent towards the commotion.

Outside, armed soldiers had gathered around Mulan's tent, among them Shang and Gen, the latter of whom yanked Mulan into the open by the wrist. His grip tightened, causing Mulan to wince as she demanded to know what was happening.

"This soldier is a _woman_," Gen announced.

"That is a harsh accusation," Shang replied, skeptical of the claim. "What have you to say, Ping?"

"It's not what you think!" she contended.

Shang's eyes widened. "Are you then validating this accusation?"

"Please, Shang; let me explain."

"Silence, woman!" A guard smacked her across the cheek and forced her to her knees.

Mushu watched powerless from behind the tent as the soldiers accosted Mulan, grilling her with harsh, at times derogatory, questions. The imminent failure of his job as family guardian loomed over him like a guillotine. Jittery apprehension danced up and down his spine as he paced back and forth trying to scheme a new plot to save his charge. With nothing but snow at his disposal, he racked his brains out to no avail until he caught a glimpse of Sora in the distance. Not leaving a moment to chance, he scurried undetected towards the Keyblade master and begged for help.

"You've gotta do something!" the little dragon cried.

"How did they find out about her?" Sora asked.

"Who knows? Who cares! If this keeps ups, her head'll make a fine hat for a sharp pike!"

"What do you mean?"

Before Mushu could answer, the heated argument across the way reached its apex. Two soldiers forced Mulan down and held her in place as Shang unsheathed his sword. "The punishment for dishonoring the army," he said solemnly, "is _death_."

"Stop!"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy pushed their way through the mob of soldiers and came between Mulan and the captain. "Ping didn't do anything wrong! She was trying to save her father."

"You knew about this treachery?" Shang said, his eyes narrowed and wounded by betrayal.

"We did," Sora affirmed. He stood tall and secure in his actions, not faltering once despite the murderous glances boring holes into him. "Ping—that is, Mulan—is a good person. She wanted to do what's right, and I don't see any harm in it."

"She's brought disgrace to the honorable Fa Zhou and to the Imperial Army!"

"Her father was going to die!"

"It would've been an honorable death!"

The two continued to argue, their disagreements spanning across concepts of honor and the role of women in society. Meanwhile, Mulan was still bowed in the snow, shivering from both cold and uncertainty. Donald and Goofy made to free her from the soldiers' constraints, but they were met with aggression. In the end, they left it up to Sora to negotiate a way out of the predicament.

"Women can be great fighters just like you and me," Sora pressed. "The Resistance is proof of that. If you could just accept that for one second, then no one has to die."

"Be that as it may, the emperor's word is law," Shang replied. "It is a woman's sole duty to bear healthy sons for the army. Undertaking any other task dishonors her family."

"What kind of a life is that?"

"One in which you shouldn't meddle. Keyblade master or no, it is not your place to question our ways." Shang extended his sword. "Now step aside."

Sora didn't budge. He planted his feet firm in the snow, ready to summon the Keyblade if necessary. With unyielding determination, he stared Shang straight in the eyes, daring him to make the first move.

The captain was loath to oblige, but his duty and honor forced his hand. In one, swift motion, he slashed his sword. Metal struck against metal, pushing the captain back.

"I don't want to fight you, Shang," Sora said, sliding himself into a better fighting stance. "But if it means protecting my friend, then you don't give me much of a choice."

"Uh, Sora—do ya really think that's wise?" Goofy whispered. "I don't think I like the idea of fightin' all these folks. They're an army, after all."

Sora gripped the Keyblade tighter. "We can't abandon Mulan. They'll kill her!"

"And the army'll kill _us_!" Donald quacked.

Sora dropped the argument and went in to parry the next blow. He and Shang danced around a bit, but Mulan ultimately ended the fight.

"Stop!" she shouted. "Sora, I appreciate you defending me, but what I did was against the law. You have more important things to do than worry about me."

"But—"

"Please," she implored. "I have my responsibilities and you have yours."

"If you drop your weapons now, I'll spare you," Shang added.

Goofy let his shield fall into the snow. "I know it's rough, but do what they say."

Donald followed suit, and nudged Sora to do the same. But the Keybearer stood frozen. He looked at Mulan, whose teeth chattered in the frigid air. Her face turned pale and bore some bruising, but she continued to hold her head high.

"Sora," she said, "for every action we take, we must be willing to accept the consequences. Do you understand?"

"I do. But this is wrong." Dropping his head to cast aside his shameful gaze, Sora willed away the Keyblade.

Shang shoved him aside and raised his sword. Not waiting to double-guess himself, he slashed his weapon downward, only to have it again miss its mark. "What are you doing, Gen?" the captain demanded. In the last instant, Gen had unsheathed his sword to block the attack.

"I will take care of this matter, Captain," he said from behind his dragon-faced helmet.

"Don't you start with me again. You will _not_ question my authority!"

"It is not a question of your authority. I will take this woman to the Court for an officially sanctioned punishment."

Hot and furious, Shang gritted his teeth as he swallowed his rage. "Give me one good reason."

Gen paused for a moment. The silence was so thick, that Sora trembled with anxiety. He wanted nothing more than to knock out the soldiers guarding Mulan and whisk her away to safety. The longer it took Gen to respond, the more inclined the Keybearer was to follow through on his thoughts. But just as his hand twitched to summon the fabled blade, the long-awaited answer foiled his plans.

"She must be judged," Gen replied in a flat tone.

"I _am_ the judge!" said the captain.

"That is for the Court to decide." Before Shang could say anything further, Gen grabbed Mulan from off the ground and dragged her away towards an unrestrained black horse waiting in the distance. They didn't get far, however. A flaming arrow fell from the sky and landed square at Gen's feet. The tall soldier stopped and turned his gaze up towards the heavens bathed in dawn's light where a sea of fire streaked through the sky and rained down into the snow.

"What's going on?" Sora wondered. The strident howls of the Huns answered his question as the barbarians appeared in the horizon and galloped on horseback towards the slumbering encampment.

"Raise the alarms!" Shang ordered. "Prepare for battle!"

The ring of soldiers that had huddled around the accused dispersed, and within minutes, the army mobilized for war. Everyone rushed out of their tents with armor and gear, readying their weapons and explosives for the advancing enemy. They rolled out the cannons and mounted what few horses they had in wait for the captain's orders. The once silent camp turned into a frenzied hotspot of chaotic clamor and panic.

In all the commotion, Sora lost track of Mulan. He quickly summoned the Keyblade and pushed past the hurried soldiers. When he cleared the imperials, a storm of flaming arrows greeted him. Dodging them as they fell, he maneuvered through the slush towards Gen, who continued to trudge onward despite Mulan's resistance.

"Wait!" Sora shouted. "You don't have to do this, Gen!" His words fell on deaf ears, however.

While Gen ignored the Keybearer, the Huns continued to storm down the mountainside, kicking up a cloud of snow that trailed behind them like an avalanche. Their rapid-fire shots grew more intense, littering the ground with hundreds of arrows. Crazy, bloodthirsty laughter echoed across the plain as the wild men neared.

"Please Gen; let me go," Mulan pleaded as they reached the horse. But like Sora, her words elicited no response. Just as Gen hoisted her onto the saddle, the Keybearer arrived.

"You of all people believe in what I stand for, right?" Sora said, holding up the Keyblade. "As the Keyblade master, I order you to release Mulan!"

Gen stared at the blade from behind his helmet. One of his hands continued to grip Mulan's wrist tight enough to cut off blood circulation. He said nothing for some time, allowing the deranged cackles of the approaching enemy to fill the air, and then he replied, "This is not your concern." His words were slow and deliberate, spoken like a warning.

But Sora refused to give up that easily. He grabbed Gen's free arm and tugged him away from the horse. At that moment, an arrow shot down and lodged itself in Gen's throat, right between the slit where his helmet met his breast plate. Sora reeled back in horror at the sight, a flood of guilt washing over him.

"Oh, no—Gen! I'm sorry, I…I shouldn't have—"

Without letting go of Mulan, Gen took his free hand and clutched the arrow. In one, swift pull he yanked it out still flaming from the slit. "Turn back," he said ominously, throwing the arrow at Sora's feet and mounting his horse.

The dark, angry horse snorted smoke and kicked its front legs into the air before galloping away, leaving Sora powerless to follow. But the delay caused by the Keyblade master drew the Huns close enough to the fleeing horse for an encounter. The barbarians charged in with swords drawn, boxing in their prey and knocking both Gen and Mulan off their ride.

As they tumbled off the horse, Gen seized Mulan and held her close, shielding her from the rough impact. They rolled through the melting snow where the Huns had dismounted and stalked closer to their vulnerable bodies.

"We're going to cut you up!" said one sadistic Hun, brandishing a large blade. With a murderous glint in his eye, he tugged a hair from his scraggly beard and split it dead in the center with his sword to demonstrate its sharpness.

"Yes, yes! Cut, cut!" chortled his deranged companion. The short, stooping Hun then let out a psychotic laugh and swung his blade only to get an arrow to the back. Stunned by the sudden pain, the twisted, little man paused with his sword still above his head to glance over at the foreign object protruding from his shoulder.

The Imperial Army began its counterattack, unleashing a wave of retaliatory arrows. With cannon fire heralding their assault, the soldiers let out a powerful battle cry and charged to meet the Huns blow for blow. Chaos blanketed the mountain with vicious slaughter and bloodshed as the Huns plowed through the first line of infantry.

While Shang shouted numerous orders and called for specific tactics and maneuvers, Shan Yu had but one thing to say to his men: "Leave no one standing!"

The battle grew heated, and in all the turmoil and disarray, Mulan flipped to her feet to join the fighting. But Gen wouldn't allow her. After quickly dispatching the group of ferocious Huns, he again took hold of her wrist and dragged her towards his horse.

"Let me go!" Mulan shouted, struggling to free herself from the ironfisted grip. "I have to help them!" Despite her persistence, nothing she did could deter or dissuade Gen from his mission.

As they neared their destination, however, something ground Gen to a halt. Mulan peered around him to see Mushu standing on the angered horse's saddle. "Not another step, mister!" he said. "Get your hands off that girl and maybe I won't smite you with my guardian magic!"

Gen said nothing, and Mushu figured he had him pegged speechless. "That's right, boy," he continued with a proud, little grin. "I'm a grade A, bona fide guardian! Bow before my glory!" Mushu held up his claws and breathed some fire for special effect, but soon found himself in the snow when Gen smacked him off the saddle.

"I knew I should've used shadow puppets," the dragon groaned. "Well, time for the classic approach." He hopped to his feet and scurried around to Gen's armor. Using his claws for support, he climbed to Gen's back and started whacking him. When that didn't get much response, Mushu switched tactics to blowing fire against the armor to scorch the body inside.

The sweltering heat grew unbearable, and Gen released Mulan to put both his hands to work at grabbing the pesky dragon.

"Run, girl!" Mushu shouted as he dodged the incoming gauntlets.

Once freed, Mulan dashed towards the battle, picking up a discarded sword en route.

"You're going the wrong way!" Mushu called after her, but she was too focused on formulating a strategy to reply. "That girl's gonna be the death of me…"

Just then, Gen's large hand grabbed the tiny dragon and squeezed all the air out of him. Gen tossed Mushu hard into the ground and mounted his horse, charging fast after Mulan.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the thick of battle, Shang led a squadron of troops straight to Shan Yu. With the two armies melding into a muddled mesh of close-quartered bodies, it proved difficult for the imperials to find Shan Yu, let alone clean a path to him. Hyabusa, the Hun leader's pet hawk, unwittingly betrayed his master's position by circling overhead. Shang used the bird to his advantage and called for a strike team to surround the Hun leader and confuse him with a surprise assault.

The plan worked great in theory, but in practice, it turned into a massacre. Any soldiers that neared Shan Yu lost their heads to his sharp, wavy blade. Too close to back down and too infuriated by the loss of his good men, Shang continued on his strike path regardless of the consequences. The two leaders soon crossed swords, the force of impact knocking them both off their steeds.

They scrambled to their feet, matching each other blow for blow in a twisted dance of enmity. With each ferocious strike, Shang grew more fatigued while Shan Yu reveled in the heat. The Hun leader could smell death in Shang's future, and his bloodlust powered each successive attack with a psychotic fervor that eventually forced the imperial captain to his knees.

"Your head is mine," Shan Yu said with a hungry grin. He knocked the sword out of Shang's hand and raised his wavy blade high to decapitate his foe when a sudden hunk of icy snow struck him square in the head. Enraged, the Hun leader shot his hawk-like gaze to the side where Mulan was packing another snowball.

"What's the matter—is the Hun leader afraid of snow?" Mulan taunted, chucking the snowball. The hard, freezing mass struck Shan Yu in the face, with his fury melting it to steam upon impact.

"Worthless whelp! I'll tear out your limbs and make you beg for death's sweet release!" Shan Yu abandoned Shang, but not before delivering him a quick kick to the head. He stalked up to Mulan with a murderous glare, towering over her and engulfing the small soldier in his pitch-black shadow.

On the other side of the battlefield, Sora and his friends were helping Yao's gang fend off an oncoming assault on the imperial munitions stock. They took the Huns head-on, distracting them with hand-to-hand combat while Chien-Po and Ling fired off some cannons. The barbarians fell, some buried by a small avalanche while others exploded from direct contact with the bombs.

The victory was short-lived, however. Sora scouted the field for Shang only to see Mulan fending off the Hun leader by herself. "It's Mulan! We have to go help her," he said.

Yao harrumphed and spat on the ground. "Why should we help that traitor?"

"Yeah! She's dishonored all of us with that crazy cross-dressing stunt!" Ling added.

Sora let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't you see? She took all of those risks knowing that it could get her killed! And even when she got caught, she still came back and she's fighting Shan Yu one-on-one! It'd be dishonorable _not_ to help her!"

The three soldiers looked at each other wordlessly but didn't budge.

"Fine, do what you want. I'm going." Sora took off, with Donald and Goofy not far behind. They clashed with some Huns along the way, which their progress so that when they finally arrived to lend their aid, it was too late.

Shan Yu disarmed Mulan and tripped her to her knees. "You will suffer," he seethed in a dark, husky voice. "I'll cover your body with thousands of tiny cuts and watch you bleed. Then I'll rip off your arms and leave you to fill this mountain with your dying screams." Shan Yu raised his sword, and with a bestial grunt, slashed Mulan across the chest.

"No, Mulan!" Sora ran to help, but never got the chance to lay a finger on the Hun leader.

"_You were told not to interfere_!" Gen roared as he came out of nowhere and tackled Shan Yu to the ground.

The two muscular warriors rolled around in the snow vying for dominance. Shan Yu tried to hack at his assailant, but Gen managed to pry the curved blade from the Hun's vice-like grip. Whenever one tried to regain his footing, the other would pull him back to the ground. They punched and clawed at each other as they tumbled down the slope of the mountain towards a cliff.

The momentum continued to build, locking them in their perpetual struggle until both warriors slid through a sheet of ice and were launched clean off the mountain. The bellowing cries of the wild Hun echoed across the sky as he and Gen plummeted to the jagged rocks awaiting them deep, down below. A second echo blanketed Shan Yu's when Gen's dark horse galloped off the edge and dove after its master.

As Donald cast a cure spell on Mulan and Shang, the Huns grew quiet and still. They ceased in their merciless beating of the imperials when a sudden announcement was parroted across the ranks.

"The Alpha is dead! The Alpha is dead!"

One Hun began the chain that spread to all the others. Soon, the chant turned into a battle cry for all the barbarians as the cutthroat army abandoned its mission against the imperials and focused instead on slaughtering its own.

* * *

Standing like a goddess on the precipice overlooking the chaotic massacre, Colonel Jihl Nabaat gripped her trusty binoculars tight enough to snap them in two. A cold, ruthless fury pulsated through her veins, rendering her speechless for some time. When she regained her ability to speak, she cursed out the name of the fool who foiled her plans.

"That idiot!" she seethed, tossing aside the splintered halves of synthetic alloy in her hands. "I told him not to get involved in the experiment! Maleficent will pay for this…"

After taking a moment to recompose herself, she signaled a nearby scientist. "Commence the _Beta Protocol_!"

"But, ma'am," the scientist protested, "it's still in the experimental phase! We haven't field tested—"

_Bang!_

The scientist fell dead where he stood and Jihl blew the smoke from her gun. She turned to another scientist. "Need I repeat myself?"

"No, ma'am!" said the jittery successor. "_Beta Protocol_ is underway." He retreated into a nearby outpost filled with various sorts of computers and gadgets.

"Excellent." Jihl holstered her gun. "And you," she pointed to another scientist, "commence Phase II of Subject Thoroughbred."

"Right away, ma'am!" The scientist dispersed, and Jihl sighed.

"I can only hope we won't require transition to Phase III at this stage," the colonel said with an adjustment of her glasses. "Where would the fun in that be, hmm?" She snapped her fingers and an aide brought her a new pair of binoculars. "Now let's see how those peons will fair against _this_…"

* * *

Back on the field, the Huns continued gutting each other while Shang ordered his troops to regroup and fall back. Donald had cast several healing spells to patch up everyone still alive, while Goofy ran around with Yao's squad to secure their supplies and munitions. Mulan tried to offer some assistance, but most everyone gave her the cold shoulder. Some jeered her loud for all to hear, while others pushed into her and knocked her to the ground.

"I'd kill you right now, woman," sneered one soldier. "But it'd dull my blade." He kicked muddied slush in Mulan's face, earning a round of laughter from his buddies.

"Hey, now; that's enough!" Goofy came to help Mulan to her feet. "All of ya just simmer down! We're here to fight Huns, not each other."

"Whatever," scoffed the rowdy soldier.

"Thank you, Goofy," said Mulan, her spirit shaken.

"Never you mind them. Just stick with me n' Donald. We'll take care of ya."

Mulan nodded, and the two went off to help move some barrels of gunpowder.

While his friends tried to help the war effort, Sora followed the captain around for some answers. "What's going on?" he asked, pushing past an oncoming troop.

"It seems with Shan Yu gone, they've descended into a primal state of warring for a new leader," Shang hypothesized. He then paused near Gen's tent, where the guardian lions had been tipped over and crushed. A small glint in the snow reflected the light of the rising sun, and Shang bent over to retrieve Gen's discarded bell. He clutched it in his hand and closed his eyes.

"We were at ends, but even so, he did an honorable deed." Shang pocketed the bell. "May the spirits watch over him."

"He died protecting Mulan," Sora said.

"He died to kill Shan Yu," Shang corrected.

"You can't seriously mean you still want to execute her even after all that!"

"Though the Huns' system of order is broken, ours is not. The law still stands." Shang resumed his march past the tent towards some soldiers. He ordered them to congregate in the center of the camp and to spread the word. They saluted him and hurried to their task

"Shang, you have to reconsider," Sora pressed. "She had an opportunity to run away, but instead came back here to help."

Shang said nothing, but when Sora made to further his case, a sudden noise cut him short. A nearby horse tied to an icy pole neighed and grunted, desperate for attention. The Keybearer stopped for a moment to study the horse. It was of a dark brown color, with soft eyes and a black mane. An empty sack of oats rested to the side, and the saddle was absent from its back.

"Hey, isn't that…"

"Why was this horse not dispatched?" questioned the captain. He signaled to a nearby soldier. "You there—prep this steed for battle!"

"Wait, Shang!" said Sora. "Isn't this the horse that Gen used to ride up from the jungle?"

Shang took another glance at the horse. "I believe it is," he replied. "So?"

"So, it's Gen's horse!"

"Get to the point; I have a war to fight!"

"When Gen took Mulan, he—"

An explosion of thundering proportions cut Sora's words. The mountain quaked, triggering a series of avalanches that flooded into the clearing. At once, several soldiers ran for the captain, screaming incoherently.

"One at a time!" ordered Shang. "You—tell me what's going on."

"It's the Huns, sir!" blurted the frantic soldier. "Something's happening to them!"

"What do you mean?"

"It's easier to show you. Follow me!"

Both Sora and Shang rushed after the apprehensive soldier, whole led them past the tents back to the frontlines. Where the Huns once slew each other, they now stood like statues up to their knees in an oddly colored snow shaken fresh from the avalanche. Their grime-caked skin glowed with an ethereal blue light that disintegrating their animal pelts and vestments. A dark goop leeched out from their pores and every orifice, engulfing their naked, glowing bodies and turning them into giant lumps of undistinguishable muck that attracted each other like magnets.

The piles of goop converged into one, giant mass of darkness that grew to colossal proportions. As if an invisible sculptor took his hands to it, the darkness molded and shaped into a humanoid appearance. It looked similar to a Darkside, albeit less solid in form and without a heart-shaped cutout running through its torso. The gooey monster advanced on the army, taking a step with its giant foot and splattering its muck everywhere.

"Man the cannons!" ordered Shang.

Soldiers rushed to light the dragon-shaped cannons. They aimed them at the giant target and let them loose. The rockets sheered through the sky and exploded all along the monster's frame, but aside from letting out an irritated grunt, it remained unfazed by the negligible damage.

"That's not going to work, Shang," Sora said, brandishing his Keyblade. "It looks like the Huns turned into a Heartless. I'm the only one who can stop it!"

"Now's not the time for bravado, Sora," the captain replied, pushing past the Keybearer. "Soldiers, ready another wave of cannon fire!"

Sora wouldn't give up, however. He ran in front of the captain and barred his path. "You can't keep pushing good warriors to the side because of some stereotypes! It's true that I'm just a teenager and Mulan's a woman, but we know how to fight. I have a Keyblade and she's got heart. Are you really going to toss aside two valuable resources because of some stupid laws or because you're too scared to believe in things like legends?"

For a while, Shang said nothing. He locked eyes with Sora, searching the boy's for some sign of concealed doubts or lies. Instead, he saw valor and conviction unlike anything the other soldiers possessed.

"Very well," he relented.

"Thank you, Shang! I won't let you down."

"But Sora, when all of this is finished…" Shang paused for a moment. "The law is still the law."

"When I'm finished with this Heartless, I'll go have a talk with your emperor and see about that stupid law." Sora ran off to gather his friends, leaving Shang to issue new orders.

"If only it were that simple," the captain murmured before hailing the bombardiers. "Give the Keybearer cover fire!"

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mulan took to the frontlines intending to attack the monster head-on. But the field told a different story in the few minutes their attention was focused in the trenches. Shadows spawned from the wayward muck that dripped from the Colossus, creating a small army of heart-hungry Heartless drawn to the light of the Keyblade.

While Sora worked to carve a path to the monster, the Colossus made its way towards the source of the cannon fire. It stepped over the Keyblade master, dropping more enemies from its goo, and reached out towards the bombardiers. It grabbed Yao, Chien-Po, and Ling with its gargantuan hand and ingested them before they could fire off the next wave of rockets. The monster's blobby mouth could hardly sustain its form, merging seamlessly back into the mucky mess when it closed.

"Cease fire, cease fire!" Shang shouted before mounting his white steed and unsheathing his blade. "Everyone, draw your weapons! Support the Keybearer!"

With the army charging in to help deal with the Shadows, Sora was free to concentrate on the Colossus. He signaled his friends, and the four of them charged forward to hack away at one of the monster's feet. Their efforts did little to thwart the enemy, however. It paid little attention to the ants at its feet and focused more on the loud noises coming from the man on the white horse.

A disgusting gurgling erupted from the Colossus's gooey abdomen as it reached down to grab Shang. The captain tried in vain to escape. He was plucked off his horse and stuffed into the mucky mouth of the monster, disappearing into its dark bowels.

"Shang!" Mulan broke away from the group and ran to intercept the captain's startled horse. "Sora, what do we do? That thing's eating our friends!"

"Umm…" Sora hacked away the foot some more and gradually came to a stop. "I'm not really sure. I thought the Keyblade would be able to hurt it, but it doesn't seem to feel anything we do."

"You keep thinking; I'll try an idea of my own." Mulan mounted the white steed and galloped back towards the cannons.

"Hey, wait!" Sora called to no avail. He then turned to Donald and Goofy. "Guys, we need something powerful. Donald, do you have any other spells besides fire and ice? Those haven't been working."

"There's lightning," said the magician. "How about I fry it with a thunderbolt?"

"We can try that."

"Okay, boys. Step aside." Donald rolled up his sleeves and held his staff high into the air. Within seconds, black, thundering clouds eclipsed the sun and bolts of lightning struck down to electrocute the Colossus. But as with all the other tactics, the blob was unfazed.

"Stupid thing! Just die already!" Donald threw a tantrum and cracked a few dozen more bolts just for good measure. This time, they did have an effect, albeit a negative one. Heated pustules of muck erupted, spewing out a battalion of Neoshadows. "Aww, phooey!"

* * *

While Sora and his friends tried to figure out a new strategy and the army continued to fight the Heartless, Mulan grabbed the last cannon and some spare pots from the camp, and rode back out in front of the Colossus. She made a cacophony of noises using the pots to draw the monster's attention. Its yellow eyeballs floated in two undulating puddles of goop and rolled over fixed on the white horse. The muck composing its face fizzed, cracking open its dripping mouth as it extended its hand to grab both Mulan and the horse.

Mulan lit the cannon just as the Colossus grabbed her. It was hard to move between the muck; it placed a great amount of pressure on her, at times stifling her breathing. But she managed to squeeze out the cannon and aim it just as the mouth came in range. The rocket fired off and streaked straight into the Colossus's esophagus, exploding and causing the monster great pain. It wailed in agony, using it spare hand to scoop up some cold snow to soothe its burning pain.

It did not, however, relinquish hold of Mulan. Rather, it stuffed both its hands into its mouth simultaneously and washed everything down with several more helpings of snow.

Fed up with the Colossus devouring his friends, Sora threw his Keyblade up at the beast with all the strength he could muster. It sliced a good deal into its chest then returned like a boomerang into its master's hand. Amazed by the new ability, Sora employed it several more times before the Colossus grew fixated on the shiny Key.

No longer distracted by the ingested, white horse, the Colossus plucked the Keyblade from its torso before it could disappear. It examined it like one would a toothpick, and went to stick it in its mouth only for it to vanish in a burst of light and reappear in Sora's clutch. The sudden light startled the beast, which grew threatened by it. Feeling the destructive power it possessed, the Colossus resolved to destroy the Keyblade and its wielder.

Sora's friends cried for him to run when they saw the giant hand reaching down, but the Keybearer wouldn't budge. He devised a plan similar to Mulan's, and would wait for the monster to bring him in close proximity of its weak point. Then, with a swift few slashes, Sora would topple the beast and save his friends.

But not everything always goes according to plan. When the Colossus grabbed Sora, it brought him nowhere near its mouth. It held him out at great length from its body, suspending him high above the ground and squeezing the Keybearer with all its might. Sora saw stars as his lips turned blue from asphyxiation. All the energy drained from his system and he grew sleepy.

Sora closed his eyes, unaware of his friends' panicked screams. A cold darkness ferried away his consciousness, beckoning him to let go. He resisted at first, but grew more passive the longer he stayed submerged in the darkness. Sora was slipping and nothing could save him.

Or so the Colossus thought. Out of nowhere, two, jagged discs lodged themselves into the back of the monster's hand. Before it could remove them, or even inspect them, they exploded with the force of a thousand Chinese cannons. The wailing Colossus reeled back in fiery pain, involuntarily releasing Sora.

The Keyblade master fell through the sky, the searing frigid air forcing him awake. With his mind still weak from oxygen deprivation, he failed to register many of the sensations immersing his body. His skin tingled and it felt as though he was sinking in a dry sea.

"I'm going to die," he thought as he fell hundreds of feet through the air. Vertigo claimed him, forcing his eyes shut until he hit a solid surface. But even when he ceased to fall and the vertigo subsided, Sora could still feel his body in motion. With his head resting against a rough, metal surface, he slowly opened his eyes, and just like that, Sora found himself in the presence of ghosts.

* * *

A/N: Just a reminder: there is audio commentary for this story. It's full of fun tidbits you probably didn't catch during your initial reading of the story thus far. The link is in my profile.

I always felt that the KH2 interpretation of _Mulan_ was anticlimactic. In the film, you get this stunningly rendered army charging down the mountainside, and in the game you get Shan Yu plus some weird, floating yellow things. There's no comparison. When I first fought that "boss battle", I actually died because I dropped my controller and walked out of the room in dismay.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

_Am I loved by the sky or despised by it? It's hard to tell when I'm always falling…_

…_Hey, can you hear me? _

_I feel you there, trying to shake me from the dream. Do you want me to awaken? Or maybe you're trying to push me farther away._

_What will you do when I call for you? When I cry, will you shatter the nightmare?_

_Listen for the beat that knocks twice, and maybe we can save each other. Maybe next time we can fly instead of fall._

* * *

High in the frigid mountains of China near the Tung Shao Pass—the route leading to the Royal Capital and heart of the world—a dark, diabolical monster continued to wage war against the Imperial Army long after the Huns vanished. Indeed, the vicious barbarians had not been vanquished, but rather, in a twisted turn of fate, they merged together to form a colossal Heartless. With every giant step of the Colossus, clumps of dark goo plopped into the pure white snow, corrupting it with dozens of newborn Shadows. The Imperials quickly grew outnumbered, and the one person who could swing the tide of battle back into Light's favor had fallen from hundreds of feet through the air and crashed miraculously rear-first onto the saddle of a well-timed horse.

"Bulls-eye!" Axel exclaimed as he steered his horse away from the Heartless and steadied Sora with his free hand. In one swift motion, he swung a rope around the Keybearer's torso and secured it around himself so the kid wouldn't fall.

"That was very reckless of you, Axel," Jiminy reprimanded.

"Oh come on, Cricket. That couldn't have gone better if I had planned it."

"You mean to say you _didn't_ plan that little stunt?" With a disapproving shake of his head, Jiminy pulled out his journal and jotted down a few words.

"Hey, what are you writing?"

"…Needless endangerment of allies for thrills… Perhaps a sign of adrenaline-induced selfishness?"

"That's not fair! I saved the kid, didn't I?"

Jiminy glanced up from his journal. "That remains to be seen." He hopped over to Sora's shoulder as the Colossus howled and reached its gooey hand towards the fleeing horse. "Are you alright, Sora?" Jiminy asked, placing a gentle hand on the Keybearer's chilled cheek.

With a groan, Sora slowly pushed his face from its resting place against Axel's armor and blinked the haze from his eyes. "Is this a dream?" he wondered aloud as he looked from Jiminy to Axel. His head felt like it was about to split open and every inch of his freezing body ached.

"Do you always dream about gigantic blobs of darkness chasing after you?" Axel jibed.

Still dazed, Sora replied with another groan and let his head fall limp against Axel's back.

"Axel, hurry!" Jiminy urged. "Donald's just over there."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

* * *

When Mulan came to after being ingested by the Colossus, she found herself lying in a heap of murky slush mixed with digestive acid. An odd fizzing noise greeted her as she tried to regain her bearings. It was a subtle noise that she ignored at first, but it grew more pronounced as time passed. As she sat up in the slush, a plate cracked off her shoulder, emitting a fizz as it bubbled and plopped into the muck. It didn't take Mulan long to bound to her feet after discovering the gastric juices eating away at her armor.

Not oblivious to the madness raging outside the beast's innards, Mulan hurried to find her friends and secure an exit. An ethereal light emanating from the rigid walls illuminated her immediate surroundings. Nothing but soiled, melting snow and acid covered the ground, with the occasional tarnished weapon or chunk of splintered wood littered about. There was no sign of Shang or the others, and Mulan continued to caution her way along the bowels of the beast until a groggy moaning stopped her dead in her tracks.

After a moment of silence in which Mulan held her breath and strained her ears to listen past the gurgling sound of the acid working its magic, another groan sounded off, this time accompanied by a shifting in a nearby mound of snow. On reflex, Mulan grabbed the nearest blade—one so soaked in digestive fluids that it resembled a melting stick of butter—and held it up in defense as she cautioned towards the curious snow mound. She prodded the snow with her foot, and at once it collapsed into a fiery heap.

Mulan jerked away from the flame, startled by the tiny, hacking and groaning dragon that emerged from the evaporating heap. "Mushu?" she said in wonder as she lowered her disintegrating sword. "Is that you?"

"That depends," Mushu gurgled as he spat out a great deal of water. "You're not a Fa family ancestor, are you? 'Cuz I can explain that mess of rubble outside the shrine. It wasn't my fault!"

"Mushu, it's me—Mulan."

"That statue was so old, there's no way that guardian dra—hey, girl!" Mushu hacked up some more water and wiped his grinning mouth. "So you managed to get away after all! How's that working out for you?"

Mulan sighed. "We've been eaten by a giant Heartless."

"I was wondering why it's so dank on this mountain. What's a dragon gotta do to get some fresh air around here?"

"Mushu, this is serious! Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po were eaten, too. We have to find them and then figure out a way to get back to the battle."

"Whoa, whoa! Time out, girl! You want to go charging off to find the same guys that want your head on a pike? No way, no how! I'll tell you what we're doing: we're gonna find ourselves an exit other than the backdoor and we're getting as far away from the army as possible! We'll get you some honor another way—maybe by saving a baby panda that fell down a well. That sounds more your speed."

"This isn't about honor anymore. Everyone's in danger. We have to stop the Heartless before all of China's overrun!"

Mushu crossed his arms and held up his snout. "Well I ain't havin' it! There's no way I'm letting you sashay your righteous little self straight in the business-end of a dozen swords."

"Then you can stay here." Still clutching the melting sword, Mulan marched past her guardian dragon and wandered deeper into the monster's bowels.

"Hey, where're you going? Don't you dare leave this GI tract! I'm warning you, girl!" Mushu flailed his arms in a tizzy, but Mulan kept walking. "Don't take another step! Hey—I said not another step! Don't you—oh, that's it!" In a huff, Mushu got down on all fours as scurried after his charge. Gastric juice splattered all over him, burning away it his scales until Mulan scooped him up and brushed him clean with what remained of her cape. "You know that doesn't score you brownie points, right?"

"This is something I have to do," she said, continuing her march. "Please try to understand."

Mushu again crossed his arms. "Oh, alright! But don't expect them to welcome you with open arms. One of Yao's knuckle sandwiches'll be the best possible present they could give you."

Various foul odors permeated through the thick air in the Colossus's intestines. The deeper Mulan and Mushu ventured through the beats, the more pungent the odors. They traveled for quite some time, following the long and narrow rigid passageway, and along the way, the acid continued to erode Mulan's armor. Her boots bubbled and grew sticky with each passing moment. Not looking forward to walking barefoot, she picked up the pace.

After a while, a haunting chorus of moans echoed towards the end of the passageway. Mulan grew cautious in her steps and clenched the deformed blade tight in her grasp. As she and her guardian approached a strange, dark area, the pain-filled moans grew louder. The new chamber was pitch black, making it impossible to tell from where the sounds originated.

"Mushu, give me a light."

The tiny dragon squeezed Mulan's arm and groaned. "Oh, I just know I'm going to regret this…" He opened his mouth wide, and after sucking in as much air as his lungs could hold, slowly exhaled. A strong and steady flame erupted from his mouth to create a torch, and at once, the entire chamber filled with a flickering light that illuminated its dreadful décor. Covering every inch of the walls—even the ground—were hundreds of wailing faces. They were contorted by anguish. Black and withered like dying trees, they pushed in various directions as if struggling to break free of an elastic prison.

"What kind of sick place is this?" Mushu exclaimed, simultaneously extinguishing his flame.

"Give me some more light!" said Mulan.

"Uh-uh, no way! That's like giving those zombies a road map to sucking out our souls!"

"But—"

"We're not having this conversation, girl. You're just going to have to do without."

"Mush, I—"

"They're going to suck out our _souls_! Maybe even eat our brains if they have extra room. The ancestors would never let me live it down if I brought them back a soulless, brainless husk of a descendent!"

"_Mushu, I'm sinking_!" Mulan shouted. "I need to see where I'm going!"

"What's the matter with you? Why didn't you say something!" Mushu huffed. "Makin' a little dragon sink into a soul-eating, demon's mouth! Have you no sense of—"

"_Now_, Mushu!"

Without further debate, Mushu coughed up some more fire, shining light on a mouth that devoured Mulan's leg. Taking the deformed sword in both hands, Mulan struck it down into the mouth's corner to try and jimmy free her foot. But as if sucked into a vacuum, the sword was yanked out of her hands where it disappeared up to the hilt.

"Got anymore bright ideas?" Mushu wanted to say, but he refrained from extinguishing the chamber's only source of light.

However, Mulan didn't give up on the sword. She grabbed it again as tight as she could and, to Mushu's surprise, actually pushed it further in. When most of the hilt was buried, she heaved it hard towards her leg until the hand guard slid under her foot and then pulled up with all of her might. Her face grew bright red as she tugged her foot out with a loud _pop! _and stumbled backwards, almost getting her back suctioned by another nearby mouth.

"That was fancy foot work there, girl. Looks like all that help I gave you in your training really paid off!" said Mushu, and the chamber grew dark once more. But before he could belch out another steady flare, a flash of electric blue light pulsated through the howling faces. They wailed in greater agony, pressing harder for release from their mucky prison. A net of glowing, blue veins protruded from each head, dimly lighting the path forward deeper into the belly of the beast.

"Now that's just nasty!" Mushu reeled, but Mulan said nothing.

Tossing aside the decrepit sword, Mulan trudged on, careful to avoid any further encounters with the wailing faces that now jerked their jaws higher to bite her. She hopped from forehead to forehead for what seemed like a long time until she entered a new chamber where a different sort of howling echoed. Inside the new area, the eerie faces continued to gaze and groan from the walls, but many of them maintained their humanoid forms. Their arms reached out from the darkness as if trying to pierce through a thick plastic, while their crippled, bony legs withered and melted into dripping goop.

The hair-raising screams that emanated from the chamber came not from the heads lurching for freedom, but instead from the three unwitting soldiers who were entangled within a forest of grabby hands. Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po—stripped of their weapons and most of their armor—were at the mercy of the damned. Long, rough fingers pressed into Yao's eyes and nose while two mouths sucked in his legs; Ling struggled to maintain his footing as he was pulled off the ground and yanked into the darkness; and Chie-Po was wrapped in dozens of pairs of arms that tried to reach around his enormous belly while a mouth stretched to gnaw on his head.

At the sight of her friends in danger, Mulan rushed into the heart of the chamber to help. "Hang on, everyone! I'll get you out of there!"

"That voice…is that you, Ping?" said Chien-Po just as goopy saliva trickled into his eyes.

"Ping's here? Help us!" Ling cried.

"You again? Buzz off, girly!" Yao growled as another pair of feasting mouths took to his arms.

Thinking fast, Mulan took a quick glance at her surroundings for anything she could use to help rescue the others. Something glimmered in the electric light on the far side of the wall as one of the discarded swords reflected the veins of energy pulsating across the face of the head devouring the blade. Not wasting a single moment, Mulan made a dash for the sword and pried it out of the black hole of a mouth just in time. She then charged towards Chien-Po, who was about to have his head bitten clean off at the neck, and slashed through the ghoulish figures holding her friend hostage.

A cacophony of screeches filled the air as the zombie-like fiends bled dark muck from their wounds and relinquished hold of Chien-Po. The portly soldier stumbled to his knees, with slobbery goop caked all across his face. Mulan wiped him clean with her cape.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes, thanks to your timely assistance," he replied with a humble bow. "I am most grateful to you."

"I couldn't just leave you there. Now come on; we have to get the others."

"Indeed."

Mulan helped Chien-Po to his feet and then turned attention to Ling, who was barely visible behind the festering patch of a hundred hungry hands tearing him apart. Most of his armor had been torn away, and the fiends now clawed at him, forcing part of his body into a nearby mouth while simultaneously trying to cut into his chest to carve out his heart.

"Give me your cape," Mulan said while untying what remained of hers from her armor.

"Very well," Chien-Po nodded. He removed his blue cape and gave it to Mulan, who subsequently tied the two pieces of fabric together with a tight knot and then tied part of it around her waist.

"I'm going in," she said while handing Chien-Po the loose end of the lifeline. Once he secured it within his grasp, Mulan clenched her sword and jumped into the maelstrom of grabby hands. At once, dozens of fiends tore at her hair, face, and armor, making it difficult to see and breathe, let alone maneuver towards Ling. Using all her might to swing the sword, Mulan managed to slowly cut a path to Ling just as he fell unconscious.

When she made to reach him, however, a mob of hands covered her face and tried to suffocate her. Mulan's vision grew dark and the strength in her dominant hand waned, letting the sword slip through her fingers.

"Mulan! Don't you quit on me now, girl!" Mushu crawled out from under her breastplate and scorched the fiends blocking her air passages. "Pull yourself together! You've got an army to save." He gave her a quick smack across the cheeks prompting her to gasp for air.

With newfound strength, Mulan tightened her hold of the sword and slashed trough the final restraints around Ling. When he fell into her free arm, she tugged at her lifeline, and Chien-Po immediately pulled them out into the open.

Chien-Po's lip quivered at the sight of his friend lying unconscious. "Is he…?"

"He needs air," Mulan replied.

"Ah, in that case, allow me to assist." Chien-Po bent over and gave Ling a hard bump to the chest.

Not even a fraction of a second passed before Ling sprang up gasping for air. "What happened?"

"Ping saved us from the monsters," his friend replied.

"Ping…?" Ling squinted his eyes and then blinked away the haze. "It _is_ you! I thought I was just imagining things earlier. You really came to save us…?" he asked in astonishment.

"There'll be time for that later," said Mulan, helping Ling to his feet. "We still have to rescue Yao."

The three made their way over to Yao, who was all but digested. Only his head remained above the surface, yet even so, he denied Mulan when she offered her aid. "Keep that lady away from me!" he shouted. "She's no better than these schleps." He nodded at the fiends, only to get his head engulfed.

"Save him!" Ling cried.

"Okay, here's the plan: Chien-Po, you keep hold of the lifeline; Ling, take my sword and start hacking at the surrounding hands; as for me, I'll loosen Yao from the creatures' mouths with the help of some fire."

"Fire? How're you going to manage that?" asked Chien-Po.

"I, uh, brought some flint," she said with a nervous little smile and laugh. "Does everyone know what we're doing?"

Ling took the sword and held it with bravado. "You bet!" He charged at the ashen fiends, detracting their attention from the others by slicing them into tiny pieces.

"Here I go," said Mulan.

Chien-Po nodded and gave a tug to the lifeline still tied around Mulan's waist.

Taking a deep breath, Mulan took a running start and then leaped into the distracted mesh of ghoulish limbs. "Mushu, do your stuff," she whispered.

"One Fried-Fiend Supreme coming right up!" The guardian dragon scampered out of his hiding place and belched out several embers that burned the wailing faces, withering them like raisins and weakening their elasticity. The goop caked around them went up in smokes, and Mulan quickly pried Yao out from their clutches piece by piece. Before she freed his head, Mushu disappeared again, and with a loud suction, Yao's stubby and scarred body was liberated in its entirety.

"I was just about to do that myself," Yao harrumphed.

Mulan sighed and tugged her lifeline. Yet just as she and Yao were almost out of the mob, a clawed hand erupted from an orifice and cut Yao a deep wound across the chest. The soldier cried out in pain. Paralyzed from the initial shock, he could nothing as the claw aimed to cut him again right over the heart. When the claw slashed into the next bit of clash, however, it missed Yao. Mulan had shielded her friend and incurred several deep gashes that broke through her armor.

The claw made one final strike for the two soldiers, but just as it came within centimeters of Mulan's back, Chien-Po tugged everyone to safety and Ling amputated the murderous limb.

"Are you two alright?" Ling gasped.

Mulan winced as she tried to stand and answer.

"We're good," said Yao, when he regained the ability to speak. To everyone's surprise, he patted Mulan on the shoulder. "This girl right here's got real spirit."

"Indeed," Chien-Po replied. He untied the lifeline and used the two capes to bandage his friends.

"Hey, um…Ping?" Ling said with a bashful rub of his neck. "What we said before—we're really sorry. It's just, the law and all… It doesn't make what we did right."

"Yes, we were most unkind to you," said Chien-Po. "You did nothing to merit such hostility."

"That law's trash," Yao grunted. "If half of women are as tough as you, the Huns would've never hacked up General Li so bad."

Ling sighed. "Can you ever forgive us?"

Stunned by the unexpected turn of events, Mulan did not reply at first. She merely stared at the three soldiers, who were beaten, bruised, and bloody beyond all recognition. But underneath all the grime and goop, she could make out their sincere and forlorn countenances.

Mulan smiled. "Of course. You three are good friends," she replied, making the men blush.

"Nah, we're just a bunch of numbskulls," Yao replied.

"You're the true friend here, Ping," said Ling.

"Please, call me Mulan," she replied. "Now let's get moving. We still have to find Shang."

"Ah, yes; the captain," said Chien-Po.

Yao clenched his fists. "Captain Pretty Boy's down here somewhere? We've gotta hurry up and move then!"

With a nod, Mulan led the way out of the chamber. The pulsating lights along the howling fiends continued to illuminate the path through another passageway dark and dank, with a putrid stench that permeated through the air. Faint yells and screams echoed along the path, strengthening the closer the group came to the next chamber.

At the center of the chamber where the lingering stench peaked was a huge pit filled with a mysterious black and red syrupy concoction. A final, single roar shot out of the pit where dozens of bony hands breeched the surface to drown a man.

Mulan's eyes widened. "Shang!" She dashed towards the edge of the pit, where down below three skeleton hands plunged Captain Li's head into the fluid, completely immersing him within it save for his one flailing arm.

"Yao, take my hand!" Mulan ordered. "Ling, take his; and Chien-Po, weigh us down!" Not waiting for a reply, Mulan took hold of Yao and held onto him as she reached into the pit for Shang's arm. She edged down the pit, almost slipping had the others not anchored her. The soldiers clung to each other like a human rope, taking small steps forward until Mulan grabbed hold of Shang's sinking hand.

"I've got him!" she called, and Chien-Po started backing up.

The pressure exerted by the syrup held Shang like glue, forcing the soldiers to tap into every last reserve of strength they still possessed. They each went red in the face, as they hauled each other away from the pit. To make matters worse, they still had to contend with the moaning fiends bulging from the ground. Watching their steps, they steered clear of the gaping heads as their shoulders grew sore. Their bones and joints crackled with each passing moment, and Mulan started to grow light-headed from all the heavy lifting. When Shang was pulled halfway out, her grip started to falter.

"Faster, guys!" she said, and the others gave and extra big heave freeing Shang at last. They reeled him onto the ground, where they all collapsed from fatigue.

"We did it!" said Ling as he gasped for air as if he'd been the one submerged.

"But Shang isn't breathing!" Mulan fretted.

Chien-Po rolled to his feet. "Allow me," he said, and he gave the captain one of his fist bumps. But it did nothing. He tried again to no avail, and Shang's lips soon grew blue.

"It's not working!" Mulan exclaimed.

"Maybe he needs new air?" Ling suggested. "One of us needs to give it to him!"

Without hesitation, Mulan pinched Shang's nose, and taking a deep breath, touches her lips to his and exhaled.

His chest inflated with air Shang hacked out a lungful of the black and red syrup as he regained consciousness. With a groan, he shook his head. "Where am I…?"

"Inside that huge Heartless!" said Ling.

"We all got gobbled up," added Yao.

"It's been one disaster after another from there," said Chien-Po.

Shang hummed. "I see. Well, then; I suppose I owe you my life, soldiers. I would have surely perished had you not arrived when you did. It's good to see the skills I've imparted within you have served you well."

Ling gave a nervous laugh. "That's great and all, Captain, but we're not the ones you should be thanking."

"Oh?"

"_She_ did all the work."

Everyone pointed to Mulan, who, in embarrassment, had wandered off out of the captain's immediate peripheral vision.

"_You_…" he said, eyes narrowing.

"She saved us all, sir," said Chien-Po. "You in particular. Mulan gave you air when you had none."

Disoriented by the sudden revelation, the captain idly touched his fingers to his lips as he thought for a moment. All grew silent save for the moans of the damned.

After a while, Shang stood and tore off his syrup-soaked cape. "This is a matter best settled once the war is at an end," he resolved. "We must first focus on the vile beast threatening our home. Let us hurry and search for an exit; the smell of this place nauseates me." He started marching, expecting the others to follow.

"On that we can agree," Mushu muttered while holding his snout.

"Shh!" Mulan said, earning unwanted attention for the others. "I mean, uh, shh-ouldn't we hurry up and go that way? You're heading in the direction we came."

Shang gave her a skeptical glance, but before he could open his mouth to reply, the chamber quaked enough for everyone to lose their balance. The fiends wailed louder than ever, filling the dank air with their petrifying screams.

"What's happening?" Mulan shouted over the wailing.

A flash of blinding light erupted from the pulsating veins running across the walls and ground as another quake rocked the chamber. The howling faces began to melt, most of them disappearing and leaving behind large, vacant holes that collapsed from the surrounding weight. The syrup in the pit grew effervescent as the temperature skyrocketed to volcanic proportions. Within seconds, the ground collapsed, and everyone fell through followed by the thick, scalding hot concoction.

* * *

Axel spurred his horse towards the army camp, passing a group of befuddled soldiers cowering behind some emptied crates. After losing Captain Li to the Colossus, the chain of command crumbled. No one knew who to follow or what to do. At best, each man protected himself from the shadows, but everyone ceased their cooperative assault on the central enemy that continued to spew more minions with every move.

"Well don't just stand there!" Axel shouted. "Make yourselves useful and kill some Heartless!"

The soldiers looked at each other and then stared at Axel.

Axel's face contorted with fiery rage. "I said _fight_!" he ordered in a loud, commanding voice, slowing down his horse so he could make eye contact with each of the soldiers.

Without thinking twice, the men saluted. "Yessir!" More afraid of Axel than the Heartless, they brandished their swords. With a unanimous battle cry, charged into the oncoming swarm of Shadows and barred them from pursuing Axel.

"Impressive," hummed Jiminy as he chronicled the incident.

"These morons need to get their act together," Axel harrumphed. He urged his horse to gallop faster, and within seconds, they reached Donald and Goofy.

Surrounded by Neoshadows, Donald and Goofy let down their guard after the Colossus captured came close to devouring their friend. Through all the confusion across the battlefield, they didn't see what had become of Sora even after the explosion that freed the Keybearer from his doom. The Neoshadows pounced on Donald and Goofy the first chance they saw, and the King's men struggled to regain their bearings.

When Donald managed to cast a quick thunder spell, Goofy pushed free from the stunned masses of darkness and whacked them away with his shield. He had just bulldozed over the remaining Neoshadows when he saw a horse galloping straight towards him. Standing idle to squint at the rider, Goofy at first didn't believe what he saw. But slowly, it donned on him that it wasn't an illusion.

"Is that—no, it can't be! But it is!" Goofy jumped in astonishment as he bounded over a clump of emerging Shadows to greet the newcomers. "Axel, you're alive!"

"Miss me?" said Axel with a cocky grin.

"We feared the worst…" Goofy replied solemnly. "It's good to see you again." He gave Axel a hearty pat on the shoulder and a small smile that disappeared as quickly as it formed. His eyes then fell on Sora, and the color drained from his face.

"Of all the luck! This day just keeps getting worse!" Donald cried as he electrocuted a squad of Shadows.

"Yeah, I'm just oozing with euphoria at the sight of you too, duck," Axel said through his teeth. When the horse came to a stop, Axel carefully unfastened Sora and eased him into Goofy's open arms.

"Say something, Sora! C'mon, open yer eyes!" Goofy fretted as he caressed the unconscious Keybearer's pale face.

"He'll be fine if quackers-for-brains can generate enough neural activity to cast a simple Cure spell," Axel replied.

Donald shot Axel a scornful glare. "Why you no good, rotten—"

"Temper, Donald!" said Jiminy as he hopped shoulders to quell the heated magician. "We haven't a moment to lose. You're Sora's only hope, and you can scarcely help anyone in the state you're in."

"Huh?" As he set sights on the friend standing on his shoulder, all the rage drained from Donald's system, replaced with pure joy. "Jiminy! You're back!"

"It's good to see you too, Donald," Jiminy replied. "But there will be time for pleasantries later. Sora needs help!"

"Oh right, sure. Anything for the Key!" With a wave of his staff, Donald cast Cure on the Keybearer.

A glitter of green light sprinkled across Sora's body, and within seconds, color returned to his livid cheeks. "What happened?" he groaned as he opened his eyes.

"You were almost crushed by the Heartless," said Goofy. "How d'ya feel now?"

Sora stood under his own weight again and opened his mouth to reply, but when he caught sight of Axel, the words died in his throat. He had only just resolved to accept his friend's death when out of nowhere he returned looking better than ever.

"Hey kid," Axel said, breaking the silence. "How's tricks?"

Tears welled up in the Keybearer's eyes and a grand smile stretched across his face. "Axel!" He grabbed his friend's hands and gave them a vigorous shake. "Where've you been? What happened to you?" Sora had a million questions he wanted to ask, but the burgeoning Heartless festering from the Colossus cut the conversation short. Within moments, a new battalion of Neoshadows sprung from the goop and surrounded he heroes.

"There'll be time for that later," said Axel, and nodded towards the towering Heartless that drew nearer by the second. "First we have to take care of Blobby the Muckman."

"Oh, that's right!" Regaining his composure, Sora released Axel's hands and summoned the Keyblade. "My friends were eaten by that thing. We have to save them—fast!"

With a snap of his fingers, Axel toasted the surrounding mob to buy more time. "Give me the lowdown; where'd this big boy come from and what are his attributes and weakness?"

While Donald huffed and puffed, Sora and Goofy detailed the war with the Huns—how they found General Li's men slaughtered in the field, how the captain had set a new course for the Capital only to be ambushed by the Huns at night, and how after Gen's sacrifice to kill Shan Yu, the barbarians melded together to form the Colossus. They also mentioned Mulan, the woman who had disguised herself as a man in order to uphold her family's honor, and how she discovered the Colossus's weak point only to be devoured.

"…And when the cannon went off, the Colossus screamed in pain," Sora continued. "That's when I realized it was just like that monster we fought back in Traverse Town. All I had to do was concentrate on the weak point, and I could defeat it."

"Didn't work out so well for you seeing as how you were seconds away from being chomped," said Axel, crossing his arms.

"I underestimated its strength. But that won't happen again."

Axel smirked. "That's the ticket. So now we just need a new plan."

"D'ya have anything in mind?" Goofy asked. "By the looks of the army, they can't hold out much longer against even the littlest of Shadows."

Stretched out thin across the frigid field, the Imperial Army struggled to fend off the massive Heartless forces. Despite all their training, without a leader to guide them, each soldier could do little more than protect himself, let alone congregate to hatch a collaborative scheme against the Colossus. Each passing moment saw more Heartless and less Imperials, as some soldiers lost their hearts, while others lost their nerve and deserted. With the encroaching darkness looming over them, the soldiers grew to feel an incomparable fear. Their hearts faltered, giving way to baser emotions that unraveled the progress of all their hard training. Lesser men fell victim to panic and grew sloppy in their form. The Heartless never missed the chance to pounce, increasing their ranks in the process.

"You said this was an army?" Axel said as he tripped a fleeing soldier and sent him tumbling into the slush. "An army of what, exactly?"

"Hey, watch it!" growled the stumbled soldier. His armor half cracked and covered in goop, he bounded back to his feet and pointed an unsteady sword at Axel. "What's the big idea?"

Axel let out an amused laugh. "Where's the fire?"

"Are you blind? That—that _thing_ ate our captain and now it's tainted the great mountain's purity! All is lost!"

"So you're just going to abandon everyone to save yourself?" Donald quacked in disgust. "And I thought I've seen my fill of deadbeats today."

"What's that supposed to mean, duck?" Axel seethed, but Sora interrupted before things grew too heated.

"I thought the people of this world cared about honor," said the Keybearer as he slipped in front of his irked friends. "Where's the honor in running away?"

"Forget honor! I've got my own philosophy: he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day." With his sword still drawn, the soldier backed away slowly and then turned tail to run.

"Wait!" Sora made to chase after him, but a hand came to rest on his shoulder and held him still.

"Let him go," said Axel. "Guys like him serve as a distraction at best. What we need is to jam that Keyblade of yours into Blobby's mouth."

"Yeah, but," Sora hung his head, "what about the people he's abandoning?"

"That's his problem, not yours. Not to mention we don't have the time for this." Axel summoned his chakrams and nodded towards Goofy. "Take quackers-for-brains and rustle up all the cooking oil from camp."

At that moment, the equivalent of a nuclear blast exploded inside of Donald, sending him rocketing high into the sky in a fit of unintelligible quacking. Redder than a tomato, he crashed back into the slushy ground and shoved his staff straight into Axel's unflinching face. "Who do you think you are?" the magician screamed at the top of his lungs as his staff began to glow. But before he could conjure a powerful blizzard spell to entomb Axel in an unbreakable block of ice, Goofy hauled him away kicking and screaming. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Mulan and the others need our help," said Goofy. "Your squabble can wait!"

"But he's a warlock, Goofy! _A warlock_! No one else could've survived that massacre—no one!" Donald continued howling until he and Goofy disappeared into the thick of battle.

"That duck is unbelievable," Axel scoffed.

"I'm sorry about that," said Sora. "He promised he'd be good…"

"Don't worry about him," Jiminy replied, once again nestled on Axel's shoulder. "I'll have a chat with him later. Now let's talk battle strategy, gang. What are we doing?"

Axel turned to study the oncoming Colossus. "It's just like Traverse Town," he replied, watching as it drowned a squad of soldiers in a flood of muck that soon dissolved into three dozen Shadows. "We've got to make the weak spot come to us."

"So we trip him?" Sora questioned.

Axel shook his head. "Topple strategy won't work here. See how it moves? It's a shapeless blob. Even if we sent it crashing on its back, it'd just turn its chest into a head and sprout legs where the sun don't shine."

"Then what do we do? We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

Axel gave his chakrams a twirl and set them ablaze. In one swift move, he launched his weapons into the air, where they seared straight into the Colossus's torso. "This is what we do," said Axel, and he snapped his fingers causing his chakrams to explode. The Colossus let out its ungodly wail that caused a miniature avalanche and deafened many. Darkness rained from the wounds, and hundreds of new Neoshadows emerged.

"All you did is create more Heartless!" Sora exclaimed. He quickly swung his Keyblade to defend against the mass of enemies pooling at his feet.

"That's not all. Take another look at Blobby."

After vanquishing the mob of Neoshadows, Sora took a quick glance at the Colossus. The towering Heartless recovered from its shock and continued undeterred in its rampage, crushing more soldiers under its gooey foot. Within seconds, the ensuing chaos plunged the whole of the mountain in a teeming blanket of darkness.

"What exactly am I looking at aside from how much worse you've made everything?" Sora exclaimed, parrying an oncoming assault of claws.

"It'll become clear soon enough," Axel replied, and he signaled his horse.

"Where are you going?" More Heartless appeared, and Sora dodged clear of a sneak attack.

"To round up the distractions." Axel jumped on his steed and galloped away towards the nearest group of spear-wielding soldiers. Without dismounting, he cleared the immediate area with a quick brush of fire. Up until then, the soldiers fought tooth and nail to drive back the burgeoning army of darkness. They held fast, complementing each other's weaknesses and guarding each other well while simultaneously pushing back the Heartless surplus.

"How did you do that?" asked one soldier of Axel as he watched the flames engulf the Shadows. The soldier's armor had all but disintegrated, leaving him bloody and scarred, with three big bruises running down his cheek and neck.

Axel snapped his fingers and dismissed the fire. "Magic."

The soldiers exchanged wary glances. "What are you?" asked a soldier who had lost an ear during the battle. He and his comrades clenched their weapons at the ready. Even with the armor, Axel's psychical attributes and abilities ensured he would never pass for a native.

"I'm the best chance you have at destroying that mountain of muck," said Axel.

"We're listening," said a soldier with only three remaining fingers on his left hand and a deep gash running across his face.

"Take your spears and gather around the kid with the giant key. I'll meet up with you when I've rallied more soldiers."

"Very well," said the man with one ear. "But make haste in your return. The beast cannot be allowed through the Tung Shao Pass."

"Just do what I say, and we'll make short work of the Muckman," said Axel as he started for another group of soldiers. He repeated the process of burning away the Shadows and recruiting squads of spearmen until he picked the battlefield clean.

When the bulk of the army had carved its way to the Keybearer, they lent their strength in escorting Donald and Goofy on their return from the trampled camp. What few containers that remained unscathed from the Heartless raid trailed behind the duo in a cart that the Donald protected with spell that repelled the lesser Shadows. Every inch of the mountain festered with Heartless, leaving no safe haven aside from the tiny cart. Whatever Shadow made to strike it bounced off an invisible wall and was flung a dozen feet away.

"We've got the oil," said Goofy upon regrouping with Sora. "Where's Axel?"

"Right here." Axel rode up to the congregation and dismounted. Everyone struggled to watch him in between fending off Shadows as he dipped a finger in a container and tasted the oil. "This is sesame. Didn't they have anything else?"

"That's all the Heartless didn't destroy," Goofy replied.

With a dark frown, Donald crossed his arms and huffed. "What difference does it make? You can cast your demonic spells with just about any oil, can't you?"

"It's not as flammable as I would've liked, but it'll do," Axel replied, choosing to ignore Donald's smart mouth for the time being. He then signaled to the spearmen. "I want everyone to coat their spears in this oil!"

"What are you planning?" asked the soldier with one ear.

Axel smirked. "To serve up some roasted Blobby with a side order of ashes and floating hearts."

The spearmen gave each other a silent glance, and the soldier with one ear stepped up to the cart. He took a container, followed by another soldier and another until all of the containers were standing open on the ground. Using ceremonial capes, banners, and any other cloth in the immediate vicinity, the soldiers began coating their weapons in oil.

While the spearmen prepared, Donald and Goofy stepped up the defense, blasting away any Shadows that sneaked around to tip the oil containers. Sora continued to aid everyone as best he could until Axel pulled him aside.

"When I give you the signal," Axel said, "I want you to quickly will the away the Keyblade and then summon it again."

"To lure the Heartless?" Sora asked.

"Yup. We've got to get tall, dark, and gruesome away from the Pass and bring him close to the spearmen."

Sora nodded. "Okay."

Several minutes later, the oil containers rolled empty along the once snowy field and the soldiers awaited Axel's orders. By now, everyone who fought along the fringes of the battlefield either perished or maneuvered to join rank and guard the spearmen, who could no longer fight with their oil-soaked weapons.

"Everyone, listen up!" called Axel loud for all to hear. "When I tell you, you're going to chuck your spears at the Colossus!" He then turned to Sora. "Do your stuff, kid."

With a firm nod, Sora slew a final Shadow and then jumped back, leaving Donald and Goofy to protect him while the Keyblade disappeared into a burst of white light. Not even a second passed before it reappeared heralded by an even more blinding light. The flicker instantly caught the attention of the Colossus, which stopped with its goop-dripping foot in midair and turned around to stomp towards the Keybearer.

In a flash, Axel whisked his hand across the hundreds of spears, erupting each of them in flames. "Attack!" he commanded, and the spearmen filled the sky with fire. The burning spears flew through the air and struck the Colossus, impaling him on all sides. Confused by the heated light, the towering Heartless let out a guttural howl as Shadows poured fom its injuries.

A grin of superiority spreading across his face, Axel snapped his fingers.

* * *

Watching from her perch in the precipice far above the battlefield, Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat let out an incredulous bought of laughter. "Look at those fools below!" she jeered. "What ever could they be thinking? Do they believe a little fire here and there will be enough to fell my Colossus?"

But just as she cackled again, a thunderous explosion sounded off that shook the whole of the mountain as Axel simultaneously detonated hundreds of flaming spears. Streams of white and black rushed into the field below as numerous avalanches swirled with the thousands of new Shadows borne of the shaken goop. The colonel and her soldiers struggled to maintain their footing through the wave of snow that tumbled off the peak.

"Radio the chopper!" Jihl ordered as she struck her sword deep into the rock and anchored herself.

Scientists and aides fled from the nearby research station, some taking what equipment they could carry while others fled in hysterics. The latter were executed, for although the colonel struggled to persevere over her frigid peril, she maintained strict adherence to her ruthless image. The bodies of the cowards fell off the precipice, fated to be buried under dozens of feet of snow.

When the helicopter arrived, the colonel and the other survivors managed to board without much hassle. The co-pilot leveled a ramp with the precipice's edge and scooped up everyone that lost their footing.

"Ascend!" the colonel ordered, and the pilot steered the chopper higher above the battlefield. Looking down through her binoculars, Jihl saw a sight so abhorrent that she grabbed the first aide to inquire into the situation and skewered him with her still-drawn blade. She then kicked his lifeless corpse at the foot of the seated scientists, who yelped at the sickening act. Within seconds, the body turned pitch black. A Shadow lifted its head from the decaying shell, devouring what remained before getting booted out the hatch by the colonel.

Jihl then straightened her glasses to better leer at her personnel. "What is the status of Subject Thoroughbred?"

"W-well—"

"Stop stuttering and spit it out!"

The most senior scientist took a deep breath to compose himself, and in the steadiest voice he could muster replied, "The genomes have been activated and the sequence is timed for completion within the next thirty minutes."

"That is acceptable," the colonel replied, turning her full attention to the battle below. "Thoroughbred will rectify the damages incurred by that wretched Fire Man."

As a black sea of Shadows engulfed the mountain, Jihl's helicopter circled around the scene high in the atmosphere where no one below was ever the wiser to its presence.

* * *

The snowcapped mountain that once stood in purity over the Imperial City now resembled a sea of darkness. Waves upon waves of Heartless crashed along every inch of the battlefield as the explosions that rocked the Colossus released an epic army of Shadows. Not a speck of white remained on the mountain, and all who still survived to fight were bombarded from all sides.

After Axel detonated the enflamed spears that protruded from across the Colossus's body, Sora grew uncertain as to the effectiveness of the folly plan. Nothing good came from the massive influx of Heartless. Or so it appeared at first. As the Shadows continued to pour from the Colossus, something unexpected happened—well, unexpected by all save for Axel. The once towering monster began to shrink in stature. While Shadows bled from its wounds, the Colossus grew less colossal until it's mouth stood only a couple of heads higher than the tallest soldier on the field.

"You see that, kid?" Axel said with a cocky grin. "What'd I tell you? Now go on and jump for the slam dunk!"

"That's incredible," Sora said, his eyes huge with wonder. "But there's one problem."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

"How am I supposed to get there? There are a million Heartless in the way!"

"You're the Keyblade master; just cut a path."

"But I'm getting tired…" Sora's body ached from all the nonstop fighting, and the frigid climate didn't help him any. The wind howled, ushering in a thick blanket of stormy clouds that blocked out the sun.

"Remember, kid," Axel said, "they're just Shadows—not centaurs, not whacky priests, not giants dinos—just Shadows."

"They're just Shadows…" Sora echoed, and he held up his blade once more.

"Right. Keep telling yourself that and go! I'll be right behind you."

Sora charged off, whacking away Shadow after Shadow en route the Colossus. It didn't take long for him to separate from Axel, just as he had lost Donald and Goofy in the mess. Scattered all over the field, the soldiers fought an endless battle against the emissaries of darkness. Many died, as they could not dispatch of their foes with the same efficiency as the Keybearer. Yet still they persevered.

Mobs upon mobs bombarded the Keyblade master, hungry for his heart most of all. After what seemed like the thousandth Shadow, Sora's knees buckled. He heaved deep, long breathes. Inhaling the frosty air only served to make him feel weaker. With no friends in sight and his hands shaking from fatigue, Sora bowed his head as a pack of Shadows bared their claws and jumped him.

The blow never came, however. Instead he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"You look like you can use some help."

Sora's eyes grew with a smile. "Mulan!"

Worn but net yet beaten, Mulan stood with sword in hand as another round of Shadows pooled in for a fight. Little of her armor remained, save for the breastplate fastened to her by the makeshift bandage covering her back wounds. She helped Sora to his feet, and together the two trudged on through the field of darkness.

In the distance, Captain Shang reemerged. "Soldiers!" he shouted. "Have you forgotten everything I've taught you? Let's get down to business and defeat these Heartless!"

Sporting new weapons, Yao and the others charged out from behind the captain and bolstered the Imperial Army's retaliatory force. Yet even with a few new reinforcements and the inspiring return of their captain, the army still foundered against the Shadows. Only the Keyblade master could change the tides of the war.

And so Sora press forward with the hopes of all resting on his shoulder. He suffered numerous injuries and came close to collapsing many times. But even still, he managed to arrive at the foot of his target. With Axel and the others not far behind, Sora and Mulan dealt with the few mobs surrounding the giant Heartless, and then aimed for the Achilles heel.

"You ready?" said Mulan.

Sora nodded. "Let's go!" He ran towards her overlapping hands and she tossed him into the air where he spiraled with Keyblade extended.

The ever-hungry Colossus opened its mouth at the sight of the bright, shiny key and opened the door to its downfall. Sora stabbed the beast over a dozen times, filling the chilly air with its howls. At once, the beast exploded into a clutter of hearts that floated like balloons up through the air until the vanished.

"You did it, Sora!" Mulan exclaimed as the Keybearer touched ground.

"Yeah, but we still have all these guys to deal with," Sora groaned as he stabbed another Shadow. Indeed, even with the Colossus gone, its offspring still remained at large.

"I can fix that." Axel scorched his way up to Sora. "Sorry for losing you like that. Some Neos thought they'd get cute and try to slit my throat while I wasn't paying attention."

"How can we get rid of all these Shadows?" Sora asked, cutting to the chase just as three Heartless jumped on his shoulders and tried to claw him.

But Axel didn't answer. He just stared.

A quick twirl of the Keyblade rid Sora of his unwanted passengers. "Hey, did you hear me? Axel…?"

"What's wrong with him?" Mulan asked.

Axel's face contorted with a peculiar look, as his eyes grew glassy. He didn't even flinch with some Heartless took swipes at his legs.

_Do it._

"Axel!"

"Get out…"

"What's wrong?"

"Get out…"

"Hey—what are you…?"

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Axel clutched at his temples and screamed. His body erupted in flames and he ran away from Sora until he reached the dead center of the battlefield and exploded killing all the Heartless, some of the weaker soldiers, and wounding everyone else.

* * *

A/N: Ch. 29 is almost finished, but unfortunately, I'm currently being bombarded by Hurricane Sandy. Depending on how devastating the damage is, I may not be able to update as soon as I'd like to. In all truth, it's a miracle I was able to publish this chapter.

Ten years ago this month, I played the original Kingdom Hearts for the very first time and have not stopped playing it since. Here's to you, KH1; the wonder and majesty you've shared with me still lives in my heart.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

No Heartless remained atop the mountains near the Royal City. A thick blanket of snow rocked free by Axel's explosion flooded the field and buried everyone that survived the blast. As the first to regain consciousness, Axel awoke to a pounding head and ringing ears, remembering nothing of the incident. He lifted himself from a pile of snow, resurfacing to a calm environment long after the avalanche subsided. Brushing what frost he could from his face, he surveyed his surroundings with a growing sense of terror.

"Sora!" he called. Though a terrible haze clouded his thoughts, one thing remained certain: Sora should've been nearby. But no one, bar himself, stood visible in the giant expanse of white. He tried calling again, this time louder, but nothing stirred across the field.

A numbing chill pulsated through Axel's body as he trudged through the snow in search of his friend. It never occurred to him to set his body aflame and warm himself; only Sora mattered. "Sora, where are you!" he shouted just before stumbling face first into the frigid ground. Some ice lodged itself in his nose, and he snorted it out like a bull as he pushed himself back to his feet. "Sora!"

"He's probably unconscious."

Axel snapped his eyes towards his shoulder where Jiminy appeared covered in frost. "What happened here, Cricket? Did the Colossus do this?"

Jiminy shivered and blew his nose into a hanky before replying. "No, Axel; you did."

"What!" Axel lost all sensation in his body, either due to frostbite or fear.

"Don't you remember?" Jiminy said through chattering teeth.

His face contorted in disgust and shame, Axel dropped his head to avert his gaze. "Would you believe me if I said I don't?"

Before he could so much as think of a response, Jiminy fell into a fit of sneezing and sniffling that almost knocked him straight of his perch. His once green complexion turned pale blue with every sneeze until Axel offered him a piece of cloth stripped from his cape as a makeshift blanket. Once wrapped snug in the fabric, Jiminy calmed down a great deal.

"I do believe you," he replied after steadying himself. "Was it the voice again?"

"I don't remember."

"This is partly my fault. As your conscience, I should have recognized the signs and stopped you."

Axel lit his fist on fire.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving Sora."

Steam flew up from under Axel's feet as the snow around him started to melt. With a wave of his enflamed hand, he launched a wave of fire into the air just a few millimeters from the ground where it launched across the field. Axel grasped at his aching chest with his free hand as he controlled the flaming wave, brushing it repeatedly over the snow until patches of armor peeked out from the melting snow. Within minutes, the bodies of those lost in the last avalanche resurfaced.

With an exasperated grunt, Axel hobbled through the slush. He passed all the soldiers, not so much as giving them a second glance as he trained his eyes to search for the slightest sign of the Keybearer.

"Aren't you going to help them?" Jiminy urged.

"Later," came Axel's terse reply. He trudged on, feeling his strength waning with each new step, but his drive to find Sora propelled him forward. Soon, he came upon something yellow jutting from the snow. With hopes high, he ignored his fatigued and raced to free the one trapped. Cold pain rushed through his lungs as he channeled all of his energy into his search and rescue efforts rather than heating himself. He dug out the snow with his bare hands, but instead of unearthing one of Sora's big shoes, he uncovered Donald's beak instead.

With an irritated groan, Axel stood to leave him there. He walked away, unaware of the protests emanating from the small passenger on his shoulder. The ringing in Axel's ears grew louder and his vision blurred. But just as his knees buckled, he heard a cry that pierced straight through him. It was muffled by the blood pumping through his ears, and maybe it was imagined out of desperation, but Axel recognized it as Sora's voice.

Gritting his teeth, Axel pushed himself back to his feet and followed the distorted cries. He tripped many times in the slush as his body lost all sensation and he grew disoriented. Eventually, he depleted what little remained of his energy. A powerful sleepiness washed over him and he collapsed. Jiminy tried to rouse him, but Axel remained unresponsive until something grabbed a tuft of his hair and yanked his face from the snow.

"Wha…?" Axel squinted, not feeling a thing as his scalp endured harsh tension. A horse stood in front of him, biting his hair in its mouth only to spit it out upon gaining his attention. Not in good condition to ride, Axel instead grabbed the reins and used the horse to steady himself. He started walking again, and with the aid of the horse, reached a cliff from where Sora's cries for help emanated.

"That you, kid?" Axel said while peering his head over the edge. Even his own voice sounded muffled to his ringing ears.

"Axel, help!" Sora shouted. He dangled by the hoodie of his jacket from a jagged rock protruding several feet from the edge.

"Tch, of all the luck," Axel groaned. "Don't suppose you have a potion or something on you?"

"I had a mega-potion, but I think I lost it in the avalanche."

"No, Zack stole it from you," Axel almost blurted, but he collapsed from exhaustion long before he could utter a single word.

"Axel? Axel! Are you okay?"

"He's unconscious!" Jiminy called.

"Can you do something?" Sora asked. "I don't know how much longer I can stay like this. I feel the fabric starting to give!"

"Just stay calm and don't make any unnecessary movements," Jiminy instructed. "Everything's going to be fine, Sora; you'll see. We just need a plan."

Sora let out a worried sigh. "I hope you're right. I'm really cold, Jiminy, and I don't feel so well."

"Well maybe you should stop _hanging around_ in the cold!" Mushu burrowed out from under a heap of snow and shook his scales clean. "Hah, I crack myself up. It's just something to _hook_ the crowd! Get it?"

"Mushu, is that you?" Sora called.

"The one and only!" Mushu scampered towards the edge of the cliff. "I don't suppose you're _hanging out_ with Mulan down there?"

"No, I haven't seen her," Sora replied. "Mushu, do you see that man behind you?"

The tiny dragon took a glance over his shoulder. "You mean that cow?"

"No, that's a horse," Jiminy corrected.

"Are you sure?" Mushu gave the horse a quick once-over and shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that's a cow. Maybe we should milk it just to make sure. Anyone have cookies?"

The thread binding together Sora's hoodie started to snap. "Mushu, please—I'm going to fall!"

"Okay, okay," Mushu said with a serious face. "I see the guy you're talking about." He squinted at Axel while he studied him. "Hey, this is the guy responsible for this mess! Want me to smack him around—give him the third degree?"

"No, I want you to set him on fire."

"While I'm all for poetic justice and all, joking aside—don't you think I should try to fish you off that rock first?"

"Trust me; just do it!"

"Well, alright. Who am I to question a kid flailing around in desperation?" Upon filling his lungs to the brim, the little dragon let out a steady flow of fire onto Axel. But instead of burning him, the flames were absorbed into his body. Not more than several seconds later, he let out a groan and pushed himself out of the snow.

"Uh, Sora? I think I should've just whacked him one instead," said Mushu as he backed away slowly.

"What happened…?" he said in a groggy voice.

"Axel!" Sora shouted. Gravity tugged his body in a slanted direction, and the slightest move could send him to his doom.

Standing at his full height, Axel craned over the ledge. "Hold on, kid! I'll get you!" With rejuvenated energy, he yanked the reins off of his horse and fashioned them into a lasso. "Summon the Keyblade!" he shouted.

Silently, Sora willed the Keyblade into his hand. The sudden weight increase tore the jacket, and Sora held his breath for fear that the next move he made would be his last.

"Quick, hold the blade up and I'll rope you in," said Axel. "Whatever you do, don't let go."

With a shaky hand, Sora eased the Keyblade above his head. Despite his caution, the sudden shift put too much strain on his hoodie. The rest of the threads snapped free and sent Sora plummeting.

"No you don't!" Axel tossed the lasso and looped the blade just in time. The sudden forward jerk almost sent him tumbling over the ledge, but his horse grabbed hold of the leather belt securing Axel's armor. Together, they reeled in Sora.

"Didn't see that one coming," Mushu mumbled.

Sora collapsed atop Axel, and the two fell in the snow. "Thanks, Axel," he said before getting to his feet and glancing around the snowy field.

"Yeah, don't mention it," Axel replied, although more to himself. He averted his gaze, unable to bring himself to look at Sora.

"Where are the others?"

"Buried."

"Oh, no!" Putting his frostbite aside, Sora started running. "We have to help them!"

Mushu slithered up Sora's shoulder for better speed, and the two rushed off to save their friends while Axel lagged behind them. With downcast spirits, he took his sweet time refastening the reins around his horse. When he finished, he didn't ride to catch up, but decided to walk. Each step he took weighed heavy, as if his boots were fashioned from bricks.

"Feeling guilty?" Jiminy ventured to guess.

Axel shrugged. "Maybe."

"Once everyone is safe, you and I will have a talk. But until then, our friends should be our priority. Don't you agree?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Axel craned his head up to the sky. A swirl of grey clouds hovered above, heralding an oncoming storm. What little energy boost Axel received from Mushu's fire was carried away with the wind as a chilly gust blew past him. In the absence of the sun's warmth, he could do little more than shiver in the wake of his internal crisis.

"I can't help them," he said as his knees buckled.

"Axel…" Jiminy put a comforting hand on the man's ice-cold cheek. "Every action we make has consequences—some of them are good and beneficial, while others are bad and harmful. When you choose to act, you must be willing to accept these consequences. If what you've done burdens you with grief, the best thing you can do is face up to your choices and strive to make better decisions in the future."

"But it wasn't a choice! I blacked out!"

"It's more complicated than that, isn't it? You've chosen to walk the path of light, and that means you're going to have to fight the darkness lurking inside of you."

"Aren't you supposed to help me with that?" Axel snarled. A suffocating pressure mounted across his chest. No matter how many deep breaths he heaved, he felt starved of oxygen. The ringing returned to his ears and he started to feel sleepy. "If anything, this is all your fault! You should've stopped me!"

"I'll admit it happened too fast for me to intervene," Jiminy replied without the slightest weakening in his stern tone, "but that isn't sufficient cause for blame. You and I have to work together or you'll never grow strong enough to stand on your own two feet."

"This isn't a walk in the park for me, Cricket. I'm trying!"

"I know, and that's commendable. But remember: turning away from the darkness isn't an easy task. You'll need to take it one step at a time, and right now, you're on the step involving actions and consequences."

"But I told you: I didn't choose any of this!"

"Maybe not, but you can choose to let today stand as a reminder of what will happen the next time you falter. Let this serve as fuel to propel you forward into the light. If what you see today truly disturbs you—if it weighs heavy on you and burdens your heart with despair—then you'll know at least one good thing has come of this travesty: you've learned to feel the true weight of your actions."

* * *

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

I thought long and hard about what Jiminy had said to me that day in the mountains. I didn't do all that thinking in one sitting, though—how could I in the middle of that icy wasteland? I'm sure I don't need to tell you that fire and ice don't mix. But suffice to say his words meant a great deal to me and I would continue to reflect upon them as the days went by. His reasoning was solid, even if I felt sore and wanted to slap the blame on anyone but me.

When I used to work for the Organization, I didn't have to think too much. Plotting an assassination and reflecting over its consequences are two different things. You think I stopped to consider the lives I ruined by turning some kids' parents into Nobodies or about using some guy's cookie-baking grandma as bait for the Heartless? Yeah, I killed a lot of people back in those days, but I never cared. I never felt a thing. How could I?

The first time I was confronted by a serious decision was when Roxas wanted out of the Organization. I had to make a choice then—one that opened the door to a million others. That's reason I'm here right now; I'm here as a consequence of that decision long ago, and honestly, the first real choice I ever made as Axel was the best choice of them all.

As Sazh always used to say: having a heart isn't all sugar and rainbows. It comes with a whole slew of emotions that can sometimes make you sick to your stomach. Stress, worry, fear, doubt, guilt, grief—you know, all the big hitters—they come as a package deal. I didn't want to admit my faults and I used my shoddy memory as an excuse.

To this day, I can't remember what happened; I can't remember what the darkness whispered to me. But does the "what" really matter? The end result is what's important. I screwed up big time, and I almost got us all killed because of my inability to stay composed in the face of temptation.

* * *

It took some time for Axel to respond to Jiminy. Silence enveloped the two, interrupted only by the intermittent gusts that blew across the field. "Yeah, you're right, Cricket," he said after a while. "I have to take responsibility for what I've done, even if I don't remember exactly what happened." Axel let out a deep breath and then forced himself to his feet.

"Remember: you're not in this alone," Jiminy said. "We'll get through this together. Just one step at a time."

"If I don't kill us all first," Axel muttered as he mounted his horse.

"Think positive!"

"If I don't _positively_ kill us all first," Axel corrected, and he spurred his horse to chase after Sora.

Jiminy sighed and shook his head.

* * *

Far across the field, the Keyblade master dug through the snow with his bare hands to free his friends. He wedged Donald free first, whose head Axel had unearthed earlier, then worked his way to Goofy and the others. The cold numbed his hands and turned his fingers blue, but Sora continued undeterred. When Donald regained consciousness, he warmed the frostbitten Keybearer's hands with magic, and then melted the rest of the soldiers and some horses free with a quick flash of fire.

After unearthing all the survivors, Donald cast Cure spells until depleting all of his magic reserves. Of the thousands of soldiers who marched towards the Tung Shao Pass, only a handful survived the Heartless battle and subsequent avalanche. Captain Li prepared to give a speech to his men when Axel arrived, sparking a passionate outburst from Donald.

"You can't hide the truth now, warlock!" shouted the magician as he marched to the front of the crowd. "You're a heartless murderer!" Donald took careful aim with his staff and blasted a huge icicle straight at Axel. The attack was blocked by a quick firewall, prompting Donald to launch another round. But Shang cut him off just as the cool mist gathered around the magician's staff.

"Are you the one responsible for this avalanche?" the captain asked.

Axel looked Shang dead in the eyes. "I am," he said without hesitation.

"Shang, please don't hurt him!" Sora ran after the captain. "He's my friend."

The captain paid little attention to Sora, focusing only on Axel. "You buried countless of my men—good men who fought with courage and dedication. If not for the Keybearer, the rest of us would have died as well."

"That's right!" Donald quacked, flocking to Shang's side opposite Sora. "He almost did us in! He's a menace—a villain! Stop him!"

Axel said nothing, but his eyes never broke contact with Shang's.

"Are you an enemy or friend to the Royal Court?" the captain asked.

"Enemy!" Donald shouted. "He's an enemy to everyone!"

"Donald, stop!" Sora implored, but his friend kept shooting off his bill until Goofy came to restrain him.

"Neither," Axel finally replied when all fell silent. "I'm here to protect Sora. If you're his friend, then I have nothing against you. But it's a different story if you try to hurt him."

"I see," said the captain. "Then you and I have no quarrel."

Donald went red in the face, struggling to break free of Goofy's arms. "But he caused an avalanche!" he exploded, pushing away from his best friend with the force of a bomb.

"That may be true," Shang agreed, "but when taken in context, he did what any honorable soldier would do: he sacrificed us to stop the Heartless progression towards the Royal City. Had I been in his position—faced with an overwhelming enemy and so few options—I too would have done anything to purge the field clean of those who would bring ruin to China. Our motives may be different, but the outcome is the same."

All the heated words Donald had pent up inside of him evaporated into the crystal air that hovered free of his mouth as he stood slack-jawed. Though motionless like a statue, his inner thoughts buzzed through his head like a swarm of angry hornets. Something snapped inside of him just then, and when Shang started marching towards his men, Donald erupted in a twitching fit. With a flick of the wrist, he completed the incantation from earlier and sent another blast of ice straight for Axel. And just like that, Donald and Axel went at each other, sucking Sora and Goofy into their conflict as desperate mediators.

While Sora's party tore itself at the seams, Shang confronted Mulan. "And now there's the matter of your transgression…"

"Shang, please!" Mulan fell to her knees and begged. "I only did it to save my father!"

With a heavy heart, the captain unsheathed a sword. Though the loss of his father allowed him to sympathize with Mulan, his sworn duty to uphold the law guided his hand.

"No, don't do it!" Ling cried as he and his two friends ran to try and stop their captain. But they were too late.

Shang raised his sword, and with a firm hand sent it crashing down into its target. The blade pierced into the snow just inches from Mulan's bowed head. "A life for a life," he said in a hollow voice, his gaze averted. "My debt is repaid."

Everyone held their tongues as the captain turned his back and walked past them, leaving Mulan alone and stunned in the snow. "Soldiers!" he commanded, still looking forward towards the Tung Shao Pass. "We march to the capital. Move out!"

The few remaining soldiers trailed after their captain, with Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po lagging behind them. Grief-stricken and ashamed, the three friends glanced at Mulan one last time before reluctantly departing. They wanted to help her, but couldn't afford dishonoring their families in the process. So they abandoned her, and felt awful for it.

Meanwhile, Axel and Donald were locked in a vicious battle. Ice went flying all over the place while flames erupted out of thin air, melting the snowfield into a pond. Goofy tried in vain to rein in his ill-tempered friend, while Sora put forth all his energy to keeping up with Axel the speed demon. Even low on spirits and inner flame, Axel could still move like a blur around the field, leaping from out of nowhere to catch Donald off guard only get a whacked by a barrage of icicles.

"Guys, please stop!" Sora cried, but he fell on deaf ears. His voice didn't carry enough presence, and at one point, Donald wound up shoving him into the water en route to placing a well-timed miniature snowstorm to blow out Axel's burgeoning fire tornado. The magician put all of Shang's training into good use as he met Axel blow-for-blow, and soon grew to surpass him in magical might.

Eventually, the two came to a standstill reminiscent of an old western shootout. They stood opposite each other—Axel twirling his chakrams at his sides, and Donald channeling magic into his staff. They stared deep into each other's narrowed eyes, waiting to see who would make the first move. At this point, both Goofy and Sora had been soaked to the bone and they clung together to keep each other warm in the freezing climate. No one said a single word aside from Jiminy, who throughout the entire battle kept his mouth shut until this very moment.

"Don't do it," he whispered into Axel's ear.

Axel said nothing, but continued to twirl his weapons.

"You're better than this. Don't do it."

Donald stroked the base of his staff with his thumb as the head emanated a light blue aura.

"It's not too late. Don't do it."

Axel's chakrams caught fire.

"Remember the consequences. Don't do it."

Frost collected along Donald's staff.

"Our choices make us who we are. Don't do it."

_Do it._

Axel's eyes went wide.

With a rumbling battle cry, Donald charged in to make the first move. Staff extended, he cast the largest Blizzard spell yet. But Axel didn't move. He could've easily evaded and counterattacked, but instead, he dropped his chakrams where they disappeared in a puff of smoke. The blast hit the right side of his body, encasing him from the chest out in a solid block of ice. Donald didn't stop there, however. He fired off three more blasts and turned Axel into an ice statue.

"Ha, take _that_!" Donald quacked, and he spat at Axel's frozen feet. "Stupid warlock." Holding his beak high, he turned his back on Axel and waddled over to Sora and Goofy, who by now had contracted hypothermia. Feeling superior and benevolent, Donald cast a quick spell to both dry and warm his friends.

"What did you _do_?" Sora cried once his strength returned. "Get him out of there!"

"No way!" said Donald. "Are you crazy? That warlock wanted to eat our hearts. I just saved you, so you should be bowing down and kissing the ground I walk on!"

"You're the crazy one!" Sora contended. "Axel's the reason the Heartless are gone, and he saved me from falling off a cliff while you and Goofy were buried under tons of snow!"

"Well we wouldn't have been buried and you wouldn't have almost fallen off a cliff if not for that wicked warlock and his evil magic! So there!" Donald crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue.

"You promised you wouldn't accuse him of being a warlock anymore!"

"Well if the devil horn fits…"

While both Sora and Donald bickered with one-another, Goofy went up to Axel and knocked against the solid ice. It was thick and frigid, and nothing short of a blowtorch could melt it. Behind the clear, pale blue hue, Axel maintained a dejected face, with his mouth closed, head tilted towards his chest, and his eyes distraught. His empty hands hung limp at his sides, with his armor damaged in various places and the old, warped shield still strapped to his arm. Jiminy stood on his shoulder with a small, relieved smile, patting him on the ear.

"Hey, Donald?" Goofy turned around to where his friends continued to eat at each other. "Donald?" he tried again, but sill failed to illicit a response. He tried one more time before taking in a deep breath and then sticking two fingers into his mouth to let out a sharp whistle. That got their attention.

"What is it, Goofy?" Donald seethed.

"Melt the ice."

"Not you, too! He'll barbecue us!"

"I'm pretty sure if he wanted to hurt us that bad, he would've done it a long time ago," Goofy replied. "Besides, you froze Jiminy, too, and I don't think he'd still be hangin' around Axel if he thought he was a warlock."

Donald gave his head a firm shake. "That's not good enough, Goofy. Don't you see? You're just like Jiminy now: brainwashed into believing the warlock's lies! This is what he does to all of his victims! We free him now, and the second we turn our backs he'll try to kill us again. We have to find the King, Goofy, and that means we can't afford to waste anymore time nearly getting killed in one of the warlock's dastardly schemes!"

"But, Donald—"

"No buts! Now let's get moving. We've got to catch up with Shang and search that Royal City of his for signs of King Mickey." Donald started walking, but just then, Sora cut in front of him.

"You don't think those are good enough reasons?" he said.

"No," Donald huffed.

"Well then maybe _this_ is good enough for you!" Sora summoned the Keyblade, and just as Donald held his staff up in defense, twirled the legendary blade and impaled it into the ground at the magician's feet. "My journey ends here."

"_What_?" Donald exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"We had a deal, Donald, but you're going back on your word."

"Don't you understand? He's not your friend; he's a warlock looking to steal our hearts and run away with the Keyblade!"

Sora shook his head. "He's just a man looking for help. I offered to help him, but after everything's that happened," Sora let out a shaky sigh, "Axel's the one who keeps helping me, and I owe him for that. I can't just walk away. But if you won't let me help him—if you're so determined to believe that there isn't anything left in him to save—then I've failed as Keyblade master and I don't deserve the title anymore. So here, take the Keyblade and go find your king. I'm done."

Shocked and speechless, Donald and Goofy watched as Sora backed away from the Keyblade and walked away. The once-Keybearer pocketed his hands to warm them as a powerful gust of wind blew past him, as if pushing him to go back. Yet he continued to walk against the wind, determined to push back harder as he retreated to where Mulan sat alone next to a campfire sparked by her guardian dragon.

"How are you doing, Mulan?" he asked as he took a seat next to her on a piece of wooden debris.

"I've been better…" she sighed, offering him part of her blanket. "Did you get into a fight with your friends?"

"Something like that," Sora replied as he snuggled into the blanket's warmth. "I guess both our journeys end here."

"You're not going to the capital?"

"There's no point."

"I see," Mulan hummed.

Just then Mushu came by dragging a basket of dumplings he had unearthed. "Hey, how're you doing?" he said in low spirits as he skewered a dumpling on a broken arrow and roasted it over the open flames.

Mulan sighed. "I should never have left home."

"I should never have left Traverse Town," Sora replied.

"Oh come on, you both did it for good reasons," Mushu said in a flat, half-hearted voice. "Mulan, you wanted to save your father's life, and Sora, you're the Keyblade master sworn to protect us from the Heartless."

A gust of wind blew in, swaying the tiny flames of the campfire. Mushu gobbled up the dumpling and roasted another one. "Who knew you'd wind up shaming yourselves and losing all your friends," Mushu added just as he broke into tears and started bawling.

"Maybe…maybe I didn't do it for my father," Mulan said suddenly. "Maybe what I really wanted was…to prove I could do things right so that when I looked in the mirror, I'd see someone worthwhile." She picked up a stray helmet from the snow and stared at her reflection. After several moments she dropped it and shed a single tear. "But I was wrong. I see nothing."

The helmet hit up against Sora's giant shoe and he collected it in his hands. "All I wanted to do was help people," he said while gazing into his own reflection. "I thought the Keyblade would give me the strength that I needed to help my friends, but the truth is I'm just another face in the crowd from a backwater island… What do I know about saving the world? I can't even save myself." He, too, dropped the helmet in despair, and then buried his reddening face in the blanket.

"Aww, this old thing just needs a good spit shine, is all!" said Mushu, trying his best to sound peppy again. He grabbed the helmet and tried polishing it, but frowned when he saw his own face reflected back at him. The truth behind what he saw weighed heavy on him, and with a sigh, he put down the makeshift mirror. "The truth is, I'm in the same boat. The Fa family ancestors never sent me; they don't even like me. Heck, you two risked your lives to save people you love—I risked your lives to help myself. At least you both had your hearts in the right place."

The three heart-heavy friends huddled together in silence, watching the crackling flames brave against the rushing winds when a sudden cry echoed in the distance.

"Sora!"

Donald and Goofy came rushing towards the small camp screaming at the top of their lungs.

"What do you want?" Sora asked without glancing up from the fire.

"Sora, look over there! It's Shan Yu!"

"_What_?"

Everyone turned to the far side of the snowfield where a shadowy figure climbed over the cliff and touched down on the icy ground. Though covered in bleeding scars and bruises, the unmistakable large frame of Shan Yu stood tall in the raging wind. The Hun leader threw his head up towards the sky and howled as darkness enveloped him. He grew several feet taller, sprouting large claws and a muscular torso that ripped his animal hide coat. An electric blue glow pulsated through a large network of visible veins branching across his body.

Circling the sky above with a similar blue aura, Shan Yu's faithful hawk Hayabusa screeched as it took a nosedive towards his master. He spread his wings, which grew to gigantic proportions, and clawed his talons deep within Shan Yu's back. Within moments, Hayabusa melted into the darkness leaving only his demonic wings.

With one final mountain-shaking battle cry, the mutated Shan Yu launched from the ground and took flight. He soared through the darkening sky and made way above the Tung Shao Pass.

"He's heading for the Royal City!" Mulan exclaimed.

Goofy gripped his shield. "We have to go after him!"

"Quick, get your Keyblade and let's go!" Donald said, shaking Sora's shoulder.

But the Keyblade master refused to move. "No."

"But Sora, this is an emergency!" Donald contended.

Sora shook his head. "I meant what I said: if I can't help others when it counts, then I don't deserve to be Keyblade master."

"I'm not unfreezing the warlock if that's what you're getting at."

"Then go without me."

"Quit being all brainwashed and moody, and let's get going already! The King could be in that city!"

When Sora didn't reply, Donald flew off his rocker. He exploded into a fit of unintelligible quacks and swung his fists in every direction. Just inches away from slapping Sora silly, he stopped when Goofy bonked him on the head with his shield.

"That's enough, mister!" Goofy said in a stern tone. "We're not gettin' anywhere with you goin' off the handle like that. Go get Axel and we'll put all this behind us."

"No!"

"If King Mickey's really in that city and Shan Yu attacks, d'ya really want to be responsible for not gettin' us there in time?"

"Well no, but—"

"We'll have us all a good long talk about Axel and warlocks _after_ we take care of Shan Yu," Goofy asserted. "Until then, we need him if we want Sora, and we _definitely_ need Sora. Understand?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Good. Now get goin'!" Goofy had put his foot down, and that was that.

Though Donald opened his mouth to protest, he shut it not even a second after and then made a beeline for Axel. Not even a sliver of ice melted from the imprisoned man in all the time that passed. With a quick spell, Donald liberated the two trapped in ice, and at once Axel fell to his knees shivering from head to toe. After encased in ice for so long, the below-zero temperature sapped him of all his fiery strength.

"There, he's freed," Donald huffed, tapping an irritated foot. "Happy? Now let's go!"

"Heal him first," Sora said as he approached.

"Do I have to?" Donald whined.

"Yes."

"Tch, fine!" The magician waved his wand, conjuring a healing green aura that replenished Axel's energy.

"Thank you kindly, Donald," said Jiminy with a tip of his hat.

"Yeah, yeah… _Now_ can we go?"

"What's going on?" said Axel as the fog lifted from his head.

"No time to explain," Sora replied as he took the Keyblade in hand and yanked it from its resting place. "Shan Yu's alive and he's flying towards the capital as we speak."

Axel's eyes widened. "Did you say _flying_? Boy, I must've missed some party…"

"In any case, there's no time to waste," said Mulan as she rode Khan up to the others. "Someone can ride with me."

"And I'll take whoever's left," Axel said, mounting his own horse.

"I'll go with Axel," Sora said before Donald could get a word in edgewise. The second he was securely mounted Axel spurred his horse towards the pass, leaving Donald and Goofy to ride with Mulan.

"Why that no good rotten…" Donald muttered. He ate everyone's ears off about the danger Axel possessed all throughout the trip.

* * *

Night fell by the time Sora and his friends reached the Royal City. All the lights and festivities in the city lit up the nighttime sky with a brilliant indigo hue. Various lanterns and flags decorated the buildings, and music filled the air. Thousands of people crowded around to cheer the surviving soldiers as they marched through the streets sandwiched between acrobats and drummers.

Yet despite their victory, what few remained of the Imperial Army felt anything but elation at their victory. For although everyone celebrated the defeat of the Huns, Shang and the others knew deep inside that the true heroes of the war would never bask in the glory of their triumph. As they paraded up to the Imperial Palace, the soldiers remained the gloomiest men in the kingdom.

"I'll find Shang and warn him," said Mulan as she pulled in front of Sora and Axel. "The rest of you scout the city for Shan Yu. He could be hiding anywhere."

"Right," Sora nodded and jumped off the horse.

Donald and Goofy also dismounted, and along with Sora, disappeared into the crowd.

Mulan galloped towards the parade, leaving Axel alone to hitch his horse to a nearby post.

"How are you doing, Axel?" Jiminy asked, getting out his journal and pen.

"Just going through the motions right now," Axel replied in a flat tone. He elbowed through the mob while keeping a sharp eye out for the Hun leader.

"How do you feel?"

"Numb."

Jiminy made a quick note. "That isn't good."

Axel shrugged. "It's getting me by without frying your squawking pal."

"Axel, I don't want you to suppress your emotions. You're supposed to be piecing your heart back together, remember? That won't happen if you don't allow yourself to feel."

"So you'd rather I set the loud-mouthed duck on fire?"

"No; ideally you want to show some self-restraint. Everyone feels urges to do things that aren't proper to do. The trick is to learn to accept those urges for what they are and not give into them."

Axel scoffed at the idea as he pushed past two old, fat guys flirting with a young woman.

"For example," Jiminy continued, "I have the urge to jump into that piping hot cup of tea over there and take a refreshing bath." He pointed to a nearby kiosk selling tea to the crowd and took a big whiff of the calming, herbal steam. "Do you know why I don't just get up and do that?"

"Because you'd get ingested?"

"No, because I'd spoil some poor, unsuspecting person's drink and I'd leave you all alone to fend for yourself!" Jiminy replied. "See? Self-restraint."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Cricket."

* * *

_Excerpt from the reflective log of a man facing death:_

That night as I wandered the streets of the Chinese capital, I told Jiminy that I felt "numb," but that doesn't even begin to describe my true feelings. A thought cropped up in my head—one I prayed I'd never have again. I repeated a secret wish to myself the entire time I was supposed to be searching for Shan Yu.

You may want to argue this—and I wouldn't stop you from doing it—but that night, I hit my lowest point. Jiminy knew nothing of it, and maybe I could've spared us all a lot of grief down the road if I had just opened my mouth to spill my guts to him the same way I am to you. Well, hindsight's 20/20, right?

While I stalked around like a zombie, all I wanted to do was find a nearby bench or something and just plop down forgetting about everything. I didn't want a heart anymore; I didn't think I could handle the depression that came hand-in-hand with defeat and failure. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to be a Nobody again. I wanted to get rid of my pain the only way I knew how: by getting rid of the one thing that allowed me to _feel_ pain.

So yeah, I numbed myself, but the heart of the problem ran so much deeper than that.

* * *

While everyone searched high and low for Shan Yu, Mulan rode up to the front of the parade. Shang led the procession, and when Mulan appeared next to him, he almost fell off his horse from shock.

"What are you doing here, Mulan?" he demanded.

"Shan Yu is here in the city," she replied, but Shang turned his head away from her.

"You don't belong here. Go home."

But Mulan wouldn't give up. She spurred Khan forward and barred the captain's path. "Shang, I saw him climb back up the mountain and unleash some new dark powers. He's almost like a Heartless now."

"Why should I believe anything you say?" the captain seethed.

"Why else would I come back?"

The two studied each other's eyes until Shang broke contact and steered his horse around Khan. The other soldiers followed suit until Mulan backed away and rode along side Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po.

"You three keep your eyes open," she warned them. "I know he's here."

The three soldiers nodded wordlessly and continued their march.

"That could've gone worse," said Mushu, sticking his head up from his hiding place.

Mulan steered Khan in the opposite direction. "If Shang's not going to listen, I'll just have to find someone who will." She galloped away to find a good place to hitch Khan then took to the streets.

Fireworks shot into the sky and exploded, earning another wave of loud cheers from the crowd just as Shang climb the steps leading to the emperor. Meanwhile, Mulan scoured the masses, taking various men aside to warn them of Shan Yu's imminent arrival. But no one would listen. Some men shoved her aside and walked away in a huff, whereas others spat on her and mocked her.

"I don't understand," she said after getting knocked into a wall by a stuffy, middle-aged man. "Why won't anyone listen to me?"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Mushu said, nonchalantly filing his claws against his scales.

"Mushu!"

"Hey, you're a girl again," the guardian dragon reminded her, and just as he did, the gong rang, bringing silence to the city.

The emperor descended the grand steps of his palace to greet the victorious captain. Dressed in the finest silk robes, he stroked his long, white beard and held his hands out with pride. "My children," he announced, "heaven smiles down upon the Middle Kingdom. China will sleep safely tonight thanks to our brave warriors!"

As the crowd cheered, a dark shadow appeared over the palace. A haunting battle cry filled the air to drown out the city folk as Shan Yu flew down behind the emperor and grabbed him.

"It's Shan Yu!" Shang shouted, unsheathing his sword along with the rest of his men. But the mutated Hun leader gave him a quick kick to the chest, sending the captain tumbling into his soldiers.

The demonic Hun leader grinned, showing off his devilish fangs as he pressed the emperor's cheek up against his. "You're mine now," he said in a sinister voice. While the soldiers scrambled to regain their bearings, Shan Yu took flight with the emperor in hand and flew over the crowd, earning gasps and panicked screams from everyone. After several passes above the masses, Shan Yu pulled up and flew through one of the palace's windows. He then dragged the emperor to a balcony for all to see and pushed him forward.

"Tell them," said Shan Yu, his beady, yellow eyes scanning the crowds. "Tell them the truth about your _Middle Kingdom_! Tell them about your dark secret!"

"I know not to what you refer," said the emperor, calm and unfazed by monster holding him hostage.

"I tire of your arrogance!" Shan Yu snarled. "Tell everyone what you've done to my people! How you've exiled your own blood, forcing them to live in poverty and disease. All the children you murdered, the infants you poisoned, the women you tortured and executed! Tell everyone the _real _reason you built that wall and waged all those wars!"

"You seem to be mistaken," the emperor replied. "My people and I want nothing but peace and light. You and your kind are the ones borne from darkness. You brought your wicked fate upon yourselves."

Shan Yu lost his cool and roared like a beast for all to quake in terror. "_It will be your head if you don't speak the truuuuuth_!" he hollered at the top of his lungs, the power of his breath swaying the emperor's beard.

"I have nothing more to say."

"_Then bow to me_!" Shan Yu ordered, but again the emperor remained calm.

"No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it."

The demonic Shan Yu let out a stronger, unearthly roar and raised his claw to strike the emperor when the Keyblade cut through the air and impaled him in the back.

"Not so fast!" Sora shouted as he and his friends barged through the door. He reclaimed the Keyblade and blocked an enraged claw swipe.

"_Don't interfere_!" Shan Yu warned, but Sora whacked him upside the head. "_Fool_!" The electric blue aura pulsating from the Hun leader's veins grew brighter as the darkness melted from his body and gave birth to a squad of Neoshadows.

While Sora, Donald, and Goofy tangoed with the Heartless, Shang and Mulan pushed forward to retrieve the emperor.

"This way, your Highness," said Shang as he grabbed the emperor by the arm and led him back to the door. But Shan Yu caught him in the act and slashed him, his claws going clean through the captain's armor. He almost suffered a fatal blow from a second attack, but Mulan blocked it with her sword.

"Get the emperor out of here!" she said to Shang as she lured away the demon.

With Shan Yu distracted and the Heartless almost gone, Captain Li managed to escort the emperor outside where Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po awaited with their swords drawn.

Enraged by the loss of his target, Shan Yu extended his arms just as all four warriors came at him, and he grabbed them each as if giving them a big, asphyxiating hug. He pressed them hard against his big, muscular chest and then jumped off the balcony, crashing on the steps below just in time to cut off Captain Li's path.

"_Going somewhere_?" growled the demon as he tossed aside his unconscious captives.

Shang stepped in front of the emperor with sword extended, but he was effortlessly knocked aside. Ling and the others lasted an even shorter amount of time, and the emperor lost his defenses all at once.

* * *

High above the clouds, Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat's silent helicopter circled the Royal City. The few remaining scientists onboard operated the machinery they saved from the avalanche, monitoring and reporting various energy levels while simultaneously cranking up the power whenever ordered by the colonel. Aside from dishing out orders, the colonel peered down at the chaos below, watching Shan Yu's rampage through a pair of thermal binoculars.

"Ah, the fruits of our labor," she said with a cunning grin. "How sweet the results."

"Ma'am, Thoroughbred is approaching maximum capacity," warned one of the scientists. "Phase III has been self-activated."

"And?"

"W-well, ma'am, should we flip the kill switch?"

"Why, whatever for, mister…?"

"Dr. Lawrence Kraven," recited one of Nabaat's surviving aides. "Aged 44, blood type O-, divorced, two children."

"Dr. Kraven, then," said the colonel, looking up from her binoculars.

"T-to, well, keep him stable," said Dr. Kraven, beads of sweat collecting along his balding scalp. The colonel never asked for his name before, and he felt even more pressure in the spotlight.

"And why, Dr. Kraven," the colonel said, leaning in close, "would we want a stable death machine, hmm?"

The colonel was so close to him that Dr. Kraven could smell the barrel of the gun that killed his colleagues. Taking an audible gulp and blinking uncontrollably, he stuttered out his answer. "W-well, t-that i-is t-t-to s-s-s-s-say…uh…w-we, uh…w-w-w-wouldn't?"

Letting her eyes linger on the doctor's for a bit, Jihl waited until the man's perspiration soaked his collar before backing off with a smile. "Very good, Dr. Kraven. What an astute observation." Jihl turned to look out the helicopter once more. "Will that be all?"

"Y-yes, ma'am."

"Carry on, then."

Dr. Kraven lowered his head and continued to study the instruments while the colonel zoomed in with her thermal binoculars. On a thermal scope, a colored scale depicted heat ratings, with green ranking the lowest and white indicating the greatest; various shades of yellow and red signaled the typical heat set of an average individual. Everything in the city below took various shades of green, yellow, and red, depicting the fleeing masses and knocked out warriors. Shan Yu, the largest red figure, loomed in on the tiny, yellow-orange emperor who, despite the catastrophe, continued to stand tall.

"My, would you look at that!" she said in amusement as a bright, solid white figure entered her view. The figure flicked its arms and hurtled two, jagged, white objects at Shan Yu, pushing him back from the emperor. "If it isn't our old friend. Come now, Mr. Fire Man; let me see the glorious color of your extinguished corpse!"

* * *

Back outside the palace, Shan Yu prepared to decapitate the emperor with his claws when two chakrams sliced through the air and struck the demon's back. Axel ascended the stairs, an empty look worn on his face. The chakrams returned to him just as the demon wailed, and just like that the two charged towards each other.

Though big and powerful, Shan Yu lacked speed. Axel ran circles around him, cutting into him with his chakrams every few passes, and setting off explosions at every available moment. When the demon grew frustrated, he launched himself high into the air and crashed back down, destroying the steps and shaking the city. But Axel just jumped clear of the impact and counterattacked with a fiery tornado.

Shan Yu's rage soon escalated to a new plateau. With another thundering roar, he channeled the darkness bubbling within him, giving birth to more Heartless that shielded their master while he underwent another metamorphosis. The veins along his body bulged as he grew taller and sprouted a layer of protective scales. Gnarled fangs twisted out from his steaming mouth as he heaved deep breaths and exhaled poisonous fumes.

While Axel contended with the demon, the others regained consciousness and offered their aid. Shang and his men spirited away the emperor, hiding him deep within his palace, while Sora and the others carved a path to Shan Yu before he grew too powerful. But by the time they dispatched all the Heartless, Shan Yu's second mutation was complete. He resembled nothing of his former self save for his strong chin and nose that now bore dozens of tiny, black scales. The thick web of veins running across his frame glowed to almost blinding proportions, making him hard to focus on for extended periods without suffering temporary vision loss.

The demonic Heartless growled and set his hungry, yellow eyes on the Keyblade. He leaped towards Sora, and before anyone could so much as blink, grabbed and hauled him into the air. No matter how the Keybearer struggled, he couldn't free himself. Even if he did, he'd fall to his doom from such a soaring height, and this time Axel didn't have a horse waiting for him.

In fact, Axel didn't do much at all. He gave a nonchalant wave of his hand, willing away the chakrams before strolling over to the nearest undamaged step. Sitting down there, he supported his chin in his hands as he hunched forward and let out a resigned sigh.

"What are you doing?" Jiminy exclaimed. "Aren't you going to help Sora? Get up and get moving!"

"Why bother?" said Axel in a flat tone.

"He's your friend and the whole reason you've come out here!"

Axel shrugged. "Not interested right now."

Thinking perhaps he misheard that last few words, Jiminy liked his finger and used it to clean his ear. "Say that again?"

"Not interested. Find someone else."

"Now you listen here, mister," Jiminy said in a stern voice as he tugged his top hat forward and hopped onto Axel's nose. "You came along on this adventure looking for a heart, but you're not going to get one acting like that! Follow your conscience; listen to what I say—heed my counsel—and you'll piece yourself together soon enough!"

"You're right." Axel got to his feet.

Jiminy gave a proud nod. "I'm glad you've come to your senses." He made to jump back onto Axel's shoulder, but he was pinched out of midair. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Axel kneeled down and dropped Jiminy on the stone step. "Goodbye, Cricket." He then walked away, deafening himself to his conscience's pleas.

"Axel—come back here! Axel!" Bearing a deep frown, Jiminy bounced after his charge, determined to follow him anywhere he went.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

What began as a night of Chinese celebration transformed into a horror-filled nightmare. The glorious palace of the Imperial Capital suffered catastrophic damages, and the Emperor of China was spirited away by Captain Li for protection against the demonic Shan Yu. Infused with devastating dark powers, Shan Yu leveled the Imperial soldiers and flew high into the air with a vital captive—the Keyblade master.

Suffering from temporary blindness and a poison-induced delirium, Sora was ill prepared to defend himself when Shan Yu barrel-rolled through the chilly sky and sped like a missile straight for the ground. He could feel the feral grunts of pleasure ripple from the scaly demon's chest where Sora was pressed against by sharp claws that dug deep into his torso. A high-pitch whistle rang through the air as they propelled downward, and Shan Yu wretched the Keybearer forward intending to smash him face-first into the stone pavement.

Before the crushing blow, however, a rogue wind swept through the currents to whisk Sora to safety and disorient Shan Yu. Donald had cast a powerful Aero spell that knocked the demon off course, while Goofy compounded the air pressure by combining it with his Spinning Tornado tactic. With a spine-trembling roar, Shan Yu spun wildly through the sky while Sora fluttered down close enough for Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po to cushion the his fall by extending a well-placed flag.

The Keybearer slid to safety, but his demonic pursuer soon swooped around for a second round. Exhaling a mist of toxic fumes, Shan Yu stunned the three soldiers and made another grab for Sora. But just as his claws came close to their target, Mulan slammed her sword across the demon's wrists, forcing him back with a painful wail. As Shan Yu recoiled from the attack, he shed another layer of darkness, unleashing Heartless to distract the warriors while he recovered.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Donald shouted as he cast a powerful cure spell, shrouding the Keybearer in a thick aura of green light to cleanse him of his ailments.

Sora stumbled back to his feet, almost getting slashed by a Neoshadow as his eyes readjusted. "I think so," he replied, inadvertently dodging the Heartless while regaining his balance. Goofy came to the Keybearer's aid, helping him fend off his attackers, and then the two regrouped with the others to formulate a strategy.

"How do we beat something like that?" Ling fretted. "I can't look at him for more than two seconds before my eyes go dark!"

"Yeah, and he could use a breath mint," said Yao while massaging his sinuses. "That purple mist shootin' from his mouth did a number on my nostrils."

"So he's a poisonous, blinding, walking Heartless factory that can fly and punch through solid rock," Mulan said to summarize. "We'll have to fight him at long-range."

Donald held up his staff. "With magic?"

"Maybe, or…" Mulan took a quick glance around her surroundings. "Where's Axel?"

"He's not here?" Sora searched every corner of the demolished stairway that led up to the palace, but he saw no one aside from some stray Shadows that fled the pack to chase after a couple of birds. "Axel, where are you!"

"Aw, forget about him!" said Donald, firing a several lightning bolts to fry the wayward Shadows. "We have more important things to worry about. Here comes Shan Yu!"

The mutated demon struck down from the sky, demolishing the stone platform on which the warriors stood. Everyone went flying into the streets, but of them all, Shan Yu chased Sora. The shining Keyblade baited his attention, sapping all thoughts from his mind and leaving nothing but the savage desire to claim the heart of the blade's chosen wielder. His fiendish, yellow eyes trained Sora as the boy slid on his back through the dirt street and pushed himself up with great strain.

Before Sora could so much as steady the Keyblade in his hand, Shan Yu swooped down once more to snatch him. The blinding light emitting from the network of electric blue veins pulsating across his body again robbed the Keybearer of his sight, rendering him defenseless as the demon grabbed hold of his neck to snap it like a twig.

Sora screamed in pain. Heat pooled into his neck as it stretched to an unbearable degree, and he gasped and sputtered in a vain attempt to suck in enough air to power a retaliatory strike. The longer he struggled to break free, the more his lungs craved oxygen. Sora's limbs soon fell limp at his sides, the Keyblade dangling from but three persistent fingers. Just as his conscious started to slip, Mulan and her friends charged Shan Yu. They succeeded in toppling him, freeing Sora in the process. Donald rushed to the scene with another Cure spell, and the Keyblade master stood battle-ready once more.

"We can't keep this up much longer," said Sora while massaging his neck. "He's doing more damage to us than we are to him."

"I have a plan!" Mulan called after kicking Shan Yu hard in the head. "Sora, do you see that tower up there?" She pointed to one of the palace's towers where several fireworks peeked out from the edge.

"What about it?"

"Run up there to lure Shan Yu. I'll handle the rest."

"What are you going to do?"

"Cause an explosion. Now hurry—and take Mushu with you!"

The tiny dragon scurried out from his hiding place and perched himself atop Sora's shoulder. "It's show time, kiddies!"

Giving a hesitant nod, Sora spun on heel and dashed for the palace doors. Inside, he scrambled through vast, marble hallways looking for the staircase that would lead him to the tower. After passing several lavish rooms filled with pottery and artworks, and after crisscrossing through the garden a couple of times, he finally reached his destination. Sora hurried to the edge to glance down at the battle below while Mushu took inventory of the fireworks.

"Let's see now, we've got us some squiggly-Q's, and one of those razzmatazzes—and oh, look at this!" Mushu held up a short, fat rocket to show off to Sora. "This is one of those that explodes into a smiley face!"

Sora watched as his friends succumbed to the poison and crawled both helpless and wounded while the demon beat them harder. "Hey, Shan Yu!" he shouted, and he waved the Keyblade high. "I'm up here! Come and get me!"

The demon's yellow eyes at once snapped to the glistening Keyblade. He abandoned the others in the dust and launched after the tower.

"Who told you to call him so fast?" Mushu cried, throwing his claws up in panic. "I'm not finished arranging these!"

"Well too bad, because here he comes!" Sora grabbed the tiny dragon and jumped out of the way as Shan Yu crashed into the tower. Standing tall like a gruesome gargoyle, he flexed his wings, tearing what little remained of demolished, tiled roof and scattering the debris everywhere.

With a groan, Sora tried getting to his feet when his eyes went dark from the blinding effect. He shielded himself with his arm and stumbled across to the ledge as the demon loomed near.

"Sora, when I tell you, slip over the ledge," Mushu said from an unknown position.

"Are you crazy?" Sora exclaimed as he clumsily felt around for the stairs to get out of that tower. "I think I've come close to breaking my neck enough times tonight, don't you?"

"Just trust me! I'm a guardian dragon, remember?"

"I thought that was a lie!"

"Well it is, but it isn't."

"But it is!"

"Just do it!"

"Now?" Sora could smell the nauseating fumes spewing from Shan Yu's mouth, and his stomach churned.

"Wait for it…"

With a feral growl, Shan Yu primed his claws and swung them at the Keybearer's chest. At the same time, Mushu belched up a wild fire that simultaneously lit every fuse in the tower.

"_Now_!" shouted the dragon, and he jumped onto Sora's shoulder as the Keybearer flung his head backwards and flipped over the ledge just narrowly missing the demon's slash.

A gigantic blast rocked the tower, blowing it to bits and propelling Shan Yu high into the sky as every last firework exploded. Riding the shockwave, Sora and Mushu plummeted to the ground where Mulan and the others once again stretched out a giant flag to catch their friends.

"See?" said Mushu with a triumphant smirk. "What'd I tell you?"

Sora slowly opened his sky-bound eyes, and saw a smiley face surrounded by a rainbow of colors painted across the clouds. "We did it," he said, letting out a huge breath of air. With the help of his friends, he hobbled to his feet and everyone watched the show of exploding lights.

However, their victory was short-lived. A gruesome roar eclipsed the explosions and Shan Yu came crashing back down in front of everyone. All of his scales had peeled from his darkened skin, and many of his bulging veins had ruptured, drenching him in blue and white fluids.

Bellowing even louder, he craned his teratoid head so the tip of his nose pointed to the sky. A jagged lump protruded from his neck as a piece of metal drenched in foamy bile erupted from his throat, and Shan Yu pulled his signature, wavy sword from out of his mouth. With an expert twirl of the blade, he prepared for the final fight.

But the warriors didn't allow him the time to strike. Together, they combined their magic and brute force to bombarded the demon with a detrimental flurry of attacks. Donald conjured every offensive spell he could muster, using liberally what Ether remained to replenish his waning strength; Goofy transferred powerful momentum into his shield and shot it like a bullet that repeatedly drilled into the demon's skull; Mulan, Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po pierced the demon with their swords at four different angles, slashing the remaining veins to bleed Shan Yu dry; Mushu hacked up all of his fire reserves, encasing the demon in a prison of flames; and Sora finished Shan Yu off by impaling him through the chest with the Keyblade.

Overwhelmed by the sheer might and speed of the warriors' assault, Shan Yu collapsed in the dirt where he lay unmoving. The darkness melted from his skin to pool with the other fluids and he shrunk back to his normal size with nothing but a few tatters of animal hide covering his waist.

As the dust cleared, a deafening silence filled the streets. The ominous calm baited the curious citizens to venture out from their hiding places and gauge the situation. Within minutes, a great crowd amassed around the palace, filling the air with mutterings and whispers. Not long after, Shang reemerged with his soldiers to escort the emperor in greeting the victors. The warriors stood at attention and bowed, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy mimicking the act.

"So, it would seem the battle is at last truly over," said the emperor as he stopped beside Shan Yu's battered corpse. "How frightening it is that one man could cause such devastation." He shook his head in disdain at the defeated Hun and then proceeded towards Sora and the others.

"You must be the Keyblade master," said the emperor, and Sora nodded. "I thank you and your friends for accompanying my army in their fight against the Darkness."

"Anytime, your Highness," said Sora, and he and his friends saluted.

The emperor nodded. "We must talk later in my chambers." He then shifted his gaze and approached Mulan. "Ah, yes—you."

"Your Highness." Flustered, Mulan deepened her bow.

The emperor's face went rigid. "I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan," he said in a stern voice, his tone rising as his continued. "You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Chinese Army, destroyed my palace!"

"Wait a minute!" Sora exclaimed. He opened his mouth to say more, but Donald stuffed it with the head of his staff.

"And," continued the emperor, his voice softening, "you have saved us all." His words hung in the air, shocking all until he performed an unfathomable act. The emperor bowed before Mulan, and like a wave rushing through the streets, each person kneeled forward to offer Mulan a deep bow until the whole city paid its respect to the one who saved their kingdom. Even Shang and his soldiers followed suit.

At a loss for words, Mulan little knew what to do. She started to voice her confusion only to oscillate between embarrassed words of gratitude to modest rebuttals. But the rush of awe and honor she felt soon turned to horror as Shan Yu rose from the dead, and with a vicious battle cry, stabbed the emperor in the back.

The emperor fell, and Shan Yu was obliterated by one final stab in the chest from the Keyblade. A single heart floated through the sky, passing a silent helicopter concealed within the clouds before disappearing from the world.

"Make way!" Shang ordered upon collecting the wounded emperor in his arms. The fine, silk robes draped around the old man's fragile frame grew stained with blood as the captain ushered him back into the palace with Sora and the others not far behind. "We need a doctor! Get a doctor here! Hurry—go, go, _go_!"

* * *

"No, no, _no_!" Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat snapped her thermal binoculars in half and chucked them at her aide, giving the man a black eye in the process. She then stormed into the cockpit in a fit of fury and shouted at the pilot. "Fly us back to base!"

The pilot nodded and pulled the chopper away from the city towards a snowstorm passing through the mountains. The powerful winds made it difficult to maneuver through the peaks, but the colonel's murderous gaze made it even more difficult for the pilot to slow down. Utilizing all of his expertise, he managed a safe landing only to have the colonel detonate the chopper when everyone evacuated.

Jihl and her entourage left the smoking helipad and rode an elevator to the laboratory hidden miles below ground. When the doors opened, her angry aura halted the scientists from their research, and everyone paused to heed the colonel's hasty orders.

"Pack it up!" she ordered. "We're returning to Eden! Burn any paperwork that isn't critical and destroy all the imbedded equipment. Salvageable tests gain priority on the ship; destroy the rest. Leave no reject alive, understood?"

"Ma'am!" echoed throughout the base, and like robots, everyone proceeded to terminate their projects. Aides rushed to the walls to unplug the large tubes that harbored humanoid Heartless suspended in a mysterious green liquid. The tubes were loaded onto a second elevator bound for the hangar. Fluids were drained from their flasks and beakers, and smaller pieces of equipment such as microscopes, datapads, and computers were shoved into boxes.

While everyone rushed around to fulfill the colonel's command, Jihl traveled to Biggs's office and barged in without knocking. Lucky for Biggs, he heard the commotion outside and hid the encrypted message he planned to send the Resistance just in the nick of time.

"Is there something I can help you with, ma'am?" said Biggs in a calm, cool manner from behind his desk.

"What is the status of the _Alpha Protocol_?" the colonel asked, flustered enough to neglect brushing aside the wayward strands of hair that dangled in her face.

"It needs more time."

Jihl clenched her fist. "How _much_ time?"

"It's as I've already informed you: it'll take about two weeks."

"Curse that meddlesome janitor!" Jihl stomped her angry foot. "Prep the samples for storage and collect the data. You have thirty minutes to bring everything to the ship."

Biggs narrowed his eyes. "We're leaving?"

"That fool Keybearer has made a mess of everything!" said Jihl as she turned to leave. "If we don't hurry, he'll figure out what we've done to that Wall and reverse it!" She left in a huff, marching to the next office to give a similar order.

"Well I'll be a moogle's uncle," Biggs muttered in astonishment. "That kid actually did it."

Not wasting another moment, he took great care in collecting his documents and separating them into two piles. One of them he stuffed into a garbage pail, while dumping the other into a box. He then walked out of his office, coming back just moments later with a sledge hammer that he slammed into his computer, bashing it into a useless, hunk of junk. So absorbed in their own affairs, no one noticed the unsettling thumps from the metal getting crushed. Biggs then dumped the pieces into his garbage pail, set it aflame with a few dozen matches, and left with his box in hand, locking the door behind him.

Outside the office, countless scientists rushed back and forth from the lift, scraping together every last bit of equipment they could carry. Stray papers fluttered through the air, while the blue lights pulsating from the metallic walls dimmed. A technician stood by the generator, lowering its power output and attaching a small, cylindrical device with a blank LCD panel.

Biggs made his way through the hustle and bustle to the back of the facility where a large refrigerator stood flush against the wall. Inside were various specimens in Petri dishes that he scooped into the box atop the stack of documents and sealed the package with tape. He then turned for the lift where he took his place next to the next batch of scientists awaiting to ride down to the hangar.

The colonel soon reappeared with several aides in tow that carried the boxes from her office. "Set the timer!" she ordered, and the technician working the generator activated the cylindrical device. A countdown from 20:00 flashed on the LCD, and the technician ran for the lift just as the colonel pulled the lever.

Down in the hangar, a gummi ship several times the size of the _G.S. Kingdom_ awaited with its thrusters primed. Everyone hauled their materials towards the opened hatch where soldiers loaded them into the cargo bay. When everything was strapped down and the base personnel were secured aboard, Jihl gave the order to the cockpit. The hatch to the cargo bay closed and all entry ports were secured, locking out the few latecomers who only just arrived from the lift. The group of panicked scientists dropped all their belongings and raced to the ship, screaming and banging against the hull for entry.

With a flip of the switch, the pilot ignited the thrusters full blast, flooding the hangar with a plume of flames that instantly killed the stragglers. The ship shot out through a long tunnel set to a steep incline. Higher up the mountain, a cloaked gate lowered just in time for the ship to fly out into the cloudy, night sky. A devastating explosion followed it by mere seconds, shaking the mountain and collapsing it into a giant heap of rubble.

The natives who bore witness to the great mountain's destruction saw it as an ill omen and fell to their knees in prayer. In the city, those who felt the earth rumble broke into hysterics, with the local guards rushing to put down the panicked mobs raving about the Middle Kingdom's apocalyptic fate.

* * *

Inside the palace, Shang laid the emperor to rest on a cushioned mat prepared in the royal chamber. Donald used his remaining mana reserves to cast several Cure spells, but none of them had any effect. The wound wouldn't heal and the emperor remained unconscious. A dozen servants shooed the magician away and fussed over their withered ruler, unraveling his bloodstained garments and preparing him for the doctor. Sora and the others felt out of place as they watched the servants buzz around the room lighting incense, fetching damp cloths to cool the emperor's sweating forehead, and heating a kettle for fresh tea should the doctor prescribe it.

When the doctor arrived, he forced everyone out of the room and into the nearby antechamber where some soldiers paced around restless. Mulan and her friends exchanged worried glances while Shang stood stiff, his face contorted in self-defeat; Donald edged his way around the room, inconspicuously pocketing some expensive-looking porcelain dolls until Goofy caught him in the act; Sora sat on a large, red pillow isolated in the corner with his head in his hands.

"Why doesn't your magic work?" Goofy asked while readjusting a doll on its pedestal.

"I don't know," Donald replied while trying to sneak some jade beads, but Goofy slapped away his hand.

"This is serious, Donald!"

The magician huffed. "What do you want me to say, Goofy? I'm not a sorcerer! There's something fishy about that jab to the gizzard that makes it immune to Cure. I'd need to look through my tomes to get a new spell, but we're not at the castle, now are we?"

"This is all my fault," Sora said with a dejected sigh. "If I had been able to wield the Keyblade properly, then Shan Yu wouldn't have gotten back up. We wouldn't _need _any extra spells." He buried his eyes into his palms.

"No, it's my fault," said Shang through gritted teeth. He punched his fist into his hand. "I should've been more suspicious of Shan Yu. I should've stopped him!"

"Hey, now—both of you calm down," said Mulan as she moved to the center of the room. "The damage is done now. We have to focus on our next step instead of wasting time weighing ourselves down with regrets."

Though he gave no direct response, Shang eased the tension in his muscles and relaxed his back against the wall. Several minutes later, the doctor emerged from the chamber.

"Is he going to live?" asked Shang, and everyone perked their ears in anticipation for the answer.

The doctor—an older man with a balding head and a small, pointed mustache—thought a moment before answering. "That is a complicated matter," he said with a twist of his mustache. "Although the stab wound is clean, the blade was tipped with poison. Without an antidote, his Majesty will perish before sunrise."

"Well then hurry and fix the antidote!" Shang ordered, his voice rising.

"As I have said: this is a complicated matter," the doctor replied calmly. "The poison used by Shan Yu is from the other side of the Wall, and I therefore have no immediate knowledge of its properties or cure."

"How do you know that for certain?"

"It hasn't reacted to the various antidotes I've administered. Where else could Shan Yu find such a poison if not from his territory beyond our borders?"

"From another world," Sora muttered through his hands, prompting Donald and Goofy to agree.

"Please, doctor; is there anything you can do?" Mulan implored.

The doctor gave his mustache a tug. "Whether from beyond the Wall or beyond the stars—if there is a known cure, it would be chronicled somewhere in the Archives."

"So what's the holdup?" Donald huffed while tapping his impatient foot. "Get crackin' and find that cure!"

"Again, it's a complicated matter. There are thousands of scrolls to search and the emperor doesn't have much time."

"Then we'll help you," said Mulan. "Take us to the Archives!"

Shang shook his head and turned for the door. "It's a waste of time."

"We won't know until we try," Mulan pressed. "Please, Shang—we have to try something!"

"You can do as you like; I won't stop you. But I have to notify the emperor's successor." Shang signaled to Ling and the others, and the soldiers left to prepare for the worst.

"Shang…"

The doctor tugged at his mustache and cleared his throat. "I'm afraid he's right. The odds are stacked too high against you."

"That's never stopped us before," said Mulan. "Right, Sora?" She turned to the Keybearer, but he looked worse than the dying emperor.

All the color had flushed from his face, leaving him as pale as a ghost while beads of sweat streaked down his chilled cheek. He developed a shaky leg that served as a conduit for the crippling apprehension coursing through his veins. A bitter taste lingered in his mouth, exacerbating his nausea, and when one of his friends tried to nudge him from his catatonic state, the Keybearer broke down into hysterics.

"_I can't do this anymore_!" he cried, pressing his palms along his face until he could thread his fingers through his hair and tug on it.

"What's gotten into you?" Donald quacked, taken aback by the outburst.

"I'm responsible for the emperor's death!"

Goofy moved closer with a comforting hand. "Now that's not—"

"I can't do anything right!" Sora interjected. He clenched his hair and rocked himself. "I can't find my friends; I can't find your king; I can't help Axel! Shang taught me how to fight and I can't even make good on his training because the one time I asked him to trust me, I got grabbed and almost eaten!"

"Sora—"

"No! _No_!" Sora shot to his feet, his wide eyes darting around the room like a scared animal surrounded by predators. "You guys—you and Leon and Anita and Gen and everyone else—you all think I'm somebody I'm not." In a burst of light, the Keyblade appeared and Sora chucked it hard across the room where it spun and pierced the wall. "I'm not your hero. I'm not your savior. I'm tired and I'm cold, and all I want to do right now is go home. I want to wake up from this nightmare!" Sora clutched at the sides of his head and collapsed in tears to his knees. "I just want the drumming to _stop_!"

The doctor, who had snuck out during the climax of Sora's hysteria, walked back into the room with a cup of hot tea. "There, there," he soothed as he carefully approached the fragile young man. "I've seen this in many capable soldiers who've scarred by the horrors of war. Drink this, and all will be right with the world."

His throat too dry to argue, Sora took the cup and downed it without waiting for the tea to cool. With his body so sapped of warmth, the hot drink didn't even burn on the way down.

"Well now, how do you feel?" asked the doctor.

Sora's eyes continued to circle the room in a dizzying way. Red, gold, jade, and white colors soon melded together and his head wobbled until his neck could no longer support it. "Very…sleepy…" he slurred with his chin touching his chest.

"Of course." The doctor nodded to Donald and Goofy. "Come, let us find him a room for the night."

The king's men exchanged worried glances and then helped support Sora out of the antechamber. They passed the Keyblade on the way out—its hilt still jutting from the wall—and with the help of some servants, they set the Keybearer in a lavish guest room. A mat was prepared and the doctor left a kettle of the calming tea by Sora's side in case he awoke too soon or suffered a panic attack in his sleep.

As they watched Sora's fitful face slumber, the king's men couldn't help but wonder if they could continue their journey together.

"The responsibility's takin' a real toll on 'im," whispered Goofy.

"Yeah," Donald sighed.

Goofy led the way out of the room where he softly closed the double-doors behind them. "D'ya think we're doin' the right thing takin' a kid like him along?"

"Hey, now! King Mickey's orders were to find the Key and help the Resistance fight Maleficent. We can't go back on our orders now!"

"I know, but—"

"But nothing! If he wants to quit, I still have some of those desserts stashed in the ship. Plus taking a thermos of that doc's tea couldn't hurt…"

Goofy frowned. "Donald, we talked about this: no more underhanded schemes!"

"Well how else do you expect him to come with us?"

Goofy thought for a moment. "Well, he seems to be feelin' awfully guilty about what happened to the emperor…"

"So?"

"So how 'bout we go help Mulan find a cure? Then Sora won't have to feel bad and he'll brighten up a bit."

Donald crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "That could work," he said after some thought. "Okay, let's go hit those scrolls. Worse comes to worst, I know Sora likes chocolate truffles."

"Donald!"

"Well he _does_!"

The king's men wandered down the hall where a servant redirected them to the Archives on the far side of the palace adjacent to the gardens. The large room, golden room was lit by numerous lanterns and lined with dozens of towering shelves riddled with holes that housed every scholarly scroll in the kingdom. It took a while for Donald and Goofy to traverse the maze of shelves and locate Mulan, who sat with Mushu at a small desk buried under a pile of medical scrolls.

"Have you found anything yet?" Donald asked.

A long parchment unfurled and draped over the desk as Mulan glanced up to shake her head.

"We've been reading these things up, down, and all around but still nothing!" said Mushu as he kicked a couple of scrolls of the desk in a huff. "The doc was right; things are gonna gonna get ugly."

"We'll find a way somehow," she said to her guardian, and then turned to Goofy. "How's Sora?"

"He just needs some sleep is all," Goofy said, taking a scroll in hand. He took a quick glance at the title and scratched his head. "_A Thousand and One uses for Nettle_. Any of 'em good for the emperor?"

"It's used for bestowing courage and making soap, but not so much as an antitoxin," Mulan replied. "I'm surprised you know how to read our language considering you're not from this world. Do all worlds speak, read, and write in our tongue?"

"Nope, every world's different. Only reason we can understand you is 'cuz Donald cast a spell on us before we landed."

"That's incredible! You two will help, won't you?"

"That's why we came down here in the first place," said Donald as he plucked a stack of scrolls from a nearby shelf and plopped down to study them. "There's gotta be something here we can use to make an antidote!"

"You won't find any there, I'm afraid," said the doctor as he emerged from behind a shelf with three of his apprentices. Mushu quickly dove into Mulan's shirt to hide.

"Isn't this the medical section?" Mulan asked, holding up a scroll on the medicinal uses of panda gallbladders.

"It is indeed, but as I've told you: the poison used by Shan Yu is of an unknown agent, therefore what we have archived in this section isn't of much use." With a twist of his mustache his beckoned the friends to a set of shelves in the far corner of the room. "These sections document the ancient knowledge of the flora and fauna of this world. We have to cross-reference between the ones found on this side of the Wall with the ones found on the other in order to determine what species are unique to the other side. From there, we can narrow down the toxic from the non-toxic, and eventually piece together the antidote."

"Aww, phooey! That'll take days!" Donald quacked.

The doctor tugged at his mustache. "Precisely."

"Well I'm not giving up." Mulan grabbed as many scrolls as she could carry and sat herself at a new desk.

With help from the doctor and his apprentices, the three friends poured all their efforts into reading well into the night until they found twenty-three species of both animal and plant unaccounted for in the most modern of texts. Of them all, three plants and two reptiles contained high toxicity levels.

"It's almost sunrise," said the weary doctor as he gazed out into the brightening horizon just beyond the garden. "We have to make a choice; there's no time to test medicinal concoctions for all of them, and of them all we only have one cure that's been documented. The others require further research."

"Not to mention we didn't even get all the plants down!" said Donald who nodded towards one of his discarded scrolls. "I just know I saw a few more exotic names in there."

"It's a gamble then," said Mulan, and without hesitation went out into the garden to pick the remedies necessary and gave them to the doctor. "This is the only chance the emperor has."

With a firm nod, the doctor took the various leaves and ground them together. He then signaled the others, and they made haste to the emperor's chamber where the mixture was boiled into a tea.

"We've done all we can," said the doctor after administering the tea. "The rest is up to fate."

Everyone left the emperor's chamber, leaving no one but Chien-Po who stood watch at the door after relieving the other guard.

"Hi, Mulan," he said with a tranquil wave. "How is his Majesty faring?"

"We made him an antidote," said Mulan with confidence.

"I do hope it works. The captain had some trouble with the emperor's successor."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Chien-po took a quick look around to make sure no one else was listening. He waited for the doctor to turn the corner, then leaned in real close to whisper. "It turns out the prince wants to become a monk. He went to the temple to relinquish his worldly belongings just before the war broke out. Even with word of his father's injuries, he doesn't want to return."

"What will happen to the dynasty?"

"The captain is trying his best to negotiate with the temple right now. If your cure doesn't work, the army might have to march again. Although I don't know how troop morale will hold. I personally can understand why the prince would choose a life of solitude and self-reflection." Chien-Po gave a serene smile as he exhaled. "Meditation does wonders for the spirit."

"Oh great, another war!" Donald scoffed. "We're not meddling in that one. Come on, Goofy! Let's go grab some souvenirs for everyone back home and then we'll drag Sora to the ship before anything crazy happens."

Before Goofy could so much as yelp, Donald dragged him into the main hall and out the door.

"You should get some sleep," said Chien-Po to Mulan. "After everything you've done for us, you must be tired. You can't have a good breakfast without a good night's sleep, you know."

"This hasn't been a very good night, Chien-Po," she replied, "and I can only hope it will be a better day when the sun rises." Mulan turned and left to wander the palace, waiting restlessly to hear word of the emperor's condition.

* * *

In the hazy beach forgotten by time, an old, withered man sat motionless while the relentless wind spurred the frigid tide hard against his numb feet. It howled and pounded against the old man, whose long, white beard and hair slapped across his face, covering all but his glazed eyes that stared out unblinkingly at the thick fog. The wind sheared his pale face, and its wails flooded his ears with agony and despair. But nothing could move the old man to action. Nothing until a small seashell washed ashore.

The shell shined with an ethereal glow unlike the one that lit the desolate beach. It was bright and warm, and filled with a rich energy that caught the old man's attention. In a miraculous occurrence, the man shifted his gaze without moving his head until his eyes fell on the seashell. He stared at it for several moments, watching the light glow brighter and brighter, his eyes tearing as it did so. But he would not look away nor blink, even when he grew blind from the purity of the light.

When his vision returned, his eyes remained fixated on the same point but no longer beheld the image of the shell. A girl stood in its place, her hands clasped behind her back as her hopeful eyes met his.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked, her voice sounding to him like a long forgotten song.

The man stared at her for some time as the wind died down and his hair slipped from his clammy cheeks. A new glint appeared in his olive eyes as a second miracle occurred. "You may," he replied in a cracked, withered voice muffled by his beard. His eyes trained the girl as she walked closer to him, her hands still behind her back and fingers intertwined.

"It took me a while to find this place," she said as she sat down in the sand next to the old man. "It's hidden so well."

"Indeed it is. Buried deeper than any abyss, my dear."

"It's been a long time…" The girl leaned her head against the old man's wrinkled, bony arm. When her skin touched his, the old man's pale white flesh retained some of its bronzed color and his emaciated frame grew more muscular.

"It has," said the old man in a sturdier voice as his beard shrunk to a manageable size. He paused for a moment while his white hair shrunk away from his nose and mouth. "So you've chosen to seek refuge within my realm."

"I couldn't think of another way."

"A wise choice. Azrael will not find you here for some time."

The girl hummed and looked around the foggy beach. "Why are you here all alone?"

"What choice have I?"

"You always have a choice."

"If it were so, I would choose to cease my existence."

Startled by the response, the girl sat up to stare at the old man with a questioning gaze. When her touch left him, his body turned feeble and pale once more. "Why would you say something like that?"

"It matters not," the old man replied, averting his gaze.

The girl gave him a cross look as she placed her hand to his hairy cheek and forced him to face her. "If you can't trust me, who can you trust?"

Color sprouted from the old man's cheek and the folds and wrinkles receded from his solemn face. "I alone bear the burden of horrors and crimes that will never see the light of justice. For too long have I sought an end to this persistent war. My sacrifices have rewarded me with nothing but tragedy. What purpose does my hand serve in this grand scheme if it can only but wield a single blade that casts misfortune with every attempt it takes to strike order?"

"You have to be patient," said the girl in a gentle, reassuring voice. "All the pieces are finally coming together."

"I've exhausted my patience. I can bear it no longer!" The old man dug his fingers deep into the soggy sand and squeezed it with all his strength. "That man's wickedness has stained the universe with the blood of millions—even yours."

"Yet I'm still here," said the girl, her voice strong yet tender.

"As am I," the old man scoffed. "What a cruel fate given to us by the gods."

"I don't think it cruel. Neither do my sisters."

"Loneliness is cruel."

"You don't have to be alone. Has your second conscious taught you nothing?"

The old man pulled away from the girl's hand and hung his aging head. "I am the last of my kind. They are all dead. That…is _true_ loneliness—a burden I do not wish Sora to bear."

"You're talking as if you are two different hearts."

"Perhaps it is time we were."

"You can't mean that!" the girl cried.

"Sora will be stronger without my grief. He will grow to handle the Darkness in due time or else doom himself to oblivion. Either way, my interference is unnecessary."

"You can't fight the Darkness with only half a heart!"

The wind, which remained docile for longer than usual, picked up momentum. It blew hard across the sea, nearly drowning out the girl's words with its wails.

"_Please…somebody_!" cried the wind. "_Help me! I can't…I don't know what to do_! _He's dying… I have to save him_! _Please, someone help me save him_!"

"Do you hear that?" said the girl, rising to her feet and looking down at the old man. "He needs you! Go help him!"

"He doesn't want me," muttered the old man as the wind whipped his hair.

"_I feel so powerless…_ _ Please, help…_"

"He's crying for _you_!" shouted the girl as she stood firm against the pounding wind.

"He's crying for anyone he can reach!"

"Who else but you can he reach in this place?"

A whirling gust howled and wept as it picked up water from the sea and drenched the two by the shore. The waves rocked harder against the sand, tripling their reach and pulling hard to yank the old man into its briny depths as they receded. Not much time passed when the girl reached down to again touch the old man's face. But she never got the chance. The third miracle saw the crippled man stumble to his numb feet. When the girl tried to aid him, he pushed her away determined to stand on his own strength. After much struggle, he managed to stand firmly with a small hunch.

"Do not misunderstand me," he said to the girl. "I have not come to rest here of my own volition. Sora placed me here in his infancy, as did the others. Should I try to break free, I am met with cruel resistance."

"Sometimes," the girl said, interlacing her fingers behind her back, "the strongest enemy you'll ever face is yourself."

"And thus my heart bleeds for yet another." The old man hobbled away taking slow, deliberate steps against the raging wind until he disappeared into the haze.

* * *

Less than an hour before sunrise the royal palace stood dead and quiet. Though none of the servants and councilors slumbered, everyone flocked into the city to either participate in reconstruction efforts or arrange for a transfer of power should the emperor perish. None but a few guards and select servants remained within the hallowed halls of the palace, some of which occasionally passed Mulan as she sat in the garden staring up at the brightening sky. She gave an idle wave to one of the servants who came to pluck some fresh seasonings for the banquet planned to either celebrate the end of the war or mourn the death of the emperor.

Across the way, the doctor worked to replace all the scrolls strewn haphazardly around the Archives. Once he finished, he would again check on the emperor's condition, though he dared not hope for the best. As he rolled up the long scroll detailing a list of plants, he caught the sight of several names they failed to document during their earlier search. Whatever cure he and the others ultimately decided upon was chosen out of desperation, which reduced the odds of its success by a great margin. With a dismal shake of his head, he cleaned up the Archives and prayed for a decent successor.

Meanwhile, Chien-Po continued his vigilant watch over the emperor's chambers. None had approached save for a servant who sought to replace the damp cloth on the emperor's forehead. Chien-Po stood stiff with a serene face and tranquil mind waiting for Ling to relieve him. And yet a particular odor soon shattered his peace of mind, filling him with thoughts of beef and rice. He could smell the chefs applying their craft in preparation for the banquet and his stomach rumbled.

The longer he stood, the hungrier he grew. Chien-Po took a quick glance around the halls and saw no one. "Just a quick bowl of soup wouldn't hurt. And maybe some eggs and noodles." Chien-Po abandoned his post and made a beeline for the kitchen, reasoning that Ling would be along soon enough anyway.

Silence filled the hall leading to the emperor's chambers, but not emptiness. A sole figure emerged from the shadows. The chamber door opened, and the shadowy figure walked in to loom over the dying ruler.

The emperor's face had turned ashen, with his rough skin hugging tight against his skull. His beard lost its sheen, and he heaved deep, laborious breaths as he lay flat on his back. A burst of light filled the room and in his sleep, the emperor grunted in pain as he instinctively reeled from the intruder. But the intruder forced the emperor closer and placed a glowing hand to the ailing man's erratic chest, whispering a fast-spoken chant as the light grew brighter.

"I draw strength from the exalted who gave the gift of Light to the realm and forged from the blood of the innocent the hammer to strike justice unto the wicked. I pray for the wicked who know not the sins they commit against the righteous and face the judgment of the herald delivering them from their suffering."

The emperor emitted an unworldly shriek as his eyes shot open to reveal large, yellow pupils. He writhed free of his covers and struggled to against the intruder who continued his rapid chant while simultaneously pinning down the deranged emperor.

"I stand with the sun's blessing, within which shines the benevolence and absolution of the divine beholder sworn to champion the Light. I expel the taint corrupting the spirit of the Light's servant unwilling to submit to the machinations of the wicked."

Shrill cries of pain filled the chamber as the emperor desperately fought to break free of the intruder's hold. His skin blackened by the minute and his enlarged eyes glowed with a piercing, yellow light.

"I invoke the oath sworn to the divine by the keeper of the Great Heart. Come forth, sanctified instrument that transcends eternity and liberate this servant from the chains of damnation!"

White light filled the chamber, intensifying the emperor's shrieks until he let out a final gasp before succumbing to silence. When the light subsided, the intruder hunched over the emperor with both hands clutching the hilt of a white blade jutting from the emperor's chest. The dying man stood still, his eyes wide and unblinking as the intruder slowly pulled free the blade and yanked out a ball of swirling darkness that hovered just above the blade's tip.

"Let purity of the spirit beget purity of the mind beget purity of the shell. So is the creed of Light. Amen."

In one fell swoop, the intruder flung the orb of darkness into the air and struck it with his blade, obliterating it. The emperor let out another gasp before closing his eyes and relaxing into his pillows. Within seconds the darkness flushed from his skin, leaving it smooth and ripe with color as he slumbered in peace, unaware of the intruder's presence.

Not lingering after the job, the intruder slipped out of the room unnoticed and vanished. Moments later, Chien-Po returned to his post with a couple of meat buns in hand. The doctor arrived not long after that expecting to pronounce the emperor dead, but when he entered the room, the glorious sight of the emperor's healthy complexion made him take a moment to pray in thanks to the spirits who allowed for such a miracle.

* * *

Axel wandered through the city streets, which gradually filled with people after Shan Yu's defeat. With so many thoughts buzzing in his head, he didn't pay much attention to the doomsayers crying from each corner about the end of days and the fall of the empire. Sure, he picked out some bits and pieces about a poisoned ruler and a fallen mountain, but none of that apocalyptic babble piqued his interest enough to divert focus from his worries.

When he entered the commercial district, he tried to distract himself by browsing through various shops that stayed opened extra late to take advantage of the occasion. Some held sales for the celebration of the war's end, while others peddled goods "guaranteed" to help ensure China's glorious future in one way or another. Axel turned his nose up at the merchants trying to sell him talismans to ward off the inevitable impending doom, and he scoffed at the ones professing that the charms they sold would ensure his prayers would heal the emperor. What did he care about China's future or the emperor's survival? Axel walked faster, regretting the decision to fill the void with material goods.

Yet he stopped just moments after shoving himself free of another peddler hawking magical trinkets. A Chinese checkers set caught his eye and he drew closer to have a look. Just staring at the pieces reminded him of the family that nursed him back to health and gave away their ancestral armor in good faith that he would bring it honor. Axel gritted his teeth, and right then and there tore the breastplate from his chest and dumped it onto the checkers set, sending the pieces flying everywhere. He then stormed off while the enraged merchant shouted after him.

For hours Axel aimlessly strolled around the streets, with the frigid air blowing right through the white, cotton shirt he had worn under his armor. He never bothered to warm himself, preferring the numbness brought about by perpetual exposure to the cold. After making the rounds through every district with a head full of more irksome thoughts than when he first began, he stopped at a nearby bench for a rest. The crowd continued to move past him, quickly filling the gap he left. With so much excitement in the air, seldom could sleep. Whether in celebration or mourning, the city pulsated with life.

Axel didn't sit for long, however. As he thought about the soldiers killed in the avalanche, a curious sight in the distance robbed him of his breath. Transfixed by a pedestrian who stopped at the stone well down the street, Axel's heart drummed so loud in his ears that it blocked out every other sound. Although the pedestrian stopped to stare into the stagnant waters for just a moment, the image seared itself into Axel's brain. With blond hair that swirled up in an array of spikes and a contemplative frown as he took a quick glance at Axel, the young man disappeared into the crowd and Axel shot from the bench in chase.

"Roxas!"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Like a man possessed, Axel bounded over everyone standing in his way, not caring about the devastation he left in his wake after tipping over an assortment of precious vases and knocking people into numerous trinket displays. The city guards chased him part of the way only to lose him in the crowd. "Roxas, stop!" he shouted, only just able to keep up with the young man whose striking resemblance to Sora's Nobody filled Axel with extraordinary vigor and spurred him free from his crippling despair.

After rounding many corners and zigzagging all across the city, he turned into a secluded alley with an unobstructed view of the palace in the distance. On his guard, Axel eased into the alley with his eyes darting everywhere. Nothing but locked doors greeted him, and he peered out into the district below to see if maybe his target jumped off the ledge. Still nothing. Axel resigned himself to defeat when a voice came from behind and sent the hairs on his neck standing on end.

"Curious."

Axel's ears perked and he spun around with wide eyes. It was the voice he never thought to possible to hear again—_his_ voice—yet somehow altered, more rigid and refined. All words died in Axel's throat as he stood stiff with his heart beating hard against his chest.

"You've pursued me quite far. I'm impressed by your determination. Now tell me—to what do I owe your captivation?"

Axel said nothing while his mind tried to process the situation. "Is this a trick?" he thought. "Have I finally snapped? This can't be real; there's no way this is real!"

"At first, I would venture to guess my face," the young man continued as he took a step closer, glossing his fingers against his cheek. "That I could understand—but the name? What of the name, I wonder? _Roxas_, was it?"

It took another moment before Axel would open his mouth. He thought of the voice that led him down the path of ruin, and of the mysterious Messenger that he knew existed but at the same time couldn't be sure. So many thoughts, wishes, and doubts mixed together as he stared into the young man's melancholic eyes.

"Who are you?"

The young man let out an amused chuckle. "Certainly not who you were expecting, I gather."

"That's not much of an answer."

"You wish for a name, then?"

Axel smirked. "Tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"Not much of a trade seeing as how I already know who you are, Axel."

"How did—"

The young man raised his hand and shushed Axel. Taking another step forward, he extended that same hand to hover over Axel's chest. An aura of warm light passed between them and the two stood there for several moments while the light grew brighter—the young man focused on his work, and Axel staring intently from his chest to the haunting face opposite him. When the light faded, the young man returned his hand to his side, and with a plain face, looked Axel in the eyes.

"You are marked."

Axel frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You bear the aura of Thanatos," the young man explained. "I've suspected as much since I first saw you, but I had to be sure."

"You're not making much sense."

The young man glanced to the side for a moment in contemplation. "Forgive me, it is a complex matter difficult to phrase. Suffice to say you are an anomaly in this realm—incomplete, yet extant; dead, yet breathing."

"I'm a Nobody."

"No, you've become something more. I sense it within you. But I also sense your fear. You desire this gift undone."

Axel cast his gaze away in shame. "You mind getting out of my business?" he snapped.

"Apologies. Could I perhaps persuade you to sate my curiosity? Do you truly long for the fate of the Nobody—to cast aside your humanity and compassion?"

Maybe he just wanted somebody to talk to—to get everything off of his chest—or maybe he wanted to believe he was talking to some form of Sora. Either way, standing so close to him, Axel could feel a great strength emanating from the young man, and found it easy to trust him in spite of his suspicion. It gave him comfort to ease his burdened back against a sturdy tree.

"Don't make it sound like having a heart makes me some gushing, goody-goody," he said. "You don't know me. I'm a killer, a murderer—an _assassin_. I know more ways to kill a man than I do to make small talk with him. The one time I actually tried to do a good deed, I still wound up with blood on my hands. I suppose it's all I'm good for."

The young man hummed. "A curious thing, fire—its fury turns to ash everything it touches," he placed his hand unopposed over Axel's beating heart, "and yet it brings warmth and light to those courageous enough to master it." Drawing his fingers closed as if to make an impartial fist, he tugged at a balling orb of flames that protruded from Axel's chest.

For a moment Axel's mind went still, freeing him from the worries and fears that plagued him. But he soon grew cold and tasted the bitterness of death. As if someone poured a bucked of acid down his throat, all of his innermost desires, beliefs, and dreams disintegrated to render him an empty husk void of self-identity. In a desperate attempt to break free from the debilitating hold, he flung himself against a nearby door. The ball of fire disappeared back into his chest to slowly reinvigorate him. Gasping for breath and clutching at his erratic heart, Axel gave himself a wide berth from the hand that still reached for his inner light.

"I could nullify your contract should you wish it," said the young man, unfazed by the pained display.

"What contract? What did you just do to me?" Axel growled in disdain. His heart continued to pound against his ribs and he huddled into himself, afraid that if he were to stand tall, it would leap out and escape forever.

"The one that allowed you to reclaim your heart. I could remove what feelings you have and return you to your former state."

"Is that what it feels like?" Axel asked more to himself. "I'd forgotten just how much of a personal hell my own body and mind could be without any feelings." He shuddered at the experience, but couldn't help but consider the offer. What further treachery awaited him in his future, he wondered, knowing full well that at least the voice and his weakness to resist temptation would perish should he opt to become a Nobody.

"Think well on what you desire, Axel, for what I've offered you is irreversible. You will not be allotted another chance. That you were reborn like this at all is in itself a wonder."

"Tell me who you are," Axel asked, wanting to change the subject while he mulled over his options.

"Who is Roxas?"

"A friend. He looks like you."

"Like me," the young man narrowed his eyes, "or _Sora_?"

At the mention of the second name, Axel's face contorted with a mixture of suspicion and frustration. He searched the young man's eyes for any tell sign of cunning or deceit, but he saw nothing aside from a paralyzing melancholy.

"Like both of you," he eventually replied.

"Where did you meet him?"

"In a cold place."

"I see." With a plain face, the young man looked out to where the sun breached over the horizon. "Forgive me—it seems you have been struck an unfair deal, but my time is short. I will answer your questions another time; you have my word." He started walking past Axel towards the edge of the alley overlooking the street below. "We are similar, you and I—we wish to be whole, yet fear the pain completion brings."

"Hey, where are you going?" Axel said, his voice rising. "I'm not going to let you stiff me! Just give me a name!"

"I am a friend—that is all you need to know. Until next we meet, remember well my words and I will grant your wish should you desire it so." Not giving Axel the time to press him further, the young man jumped off the ledge. But he didn't land in the street. The wind carried him into the air where he disappeared into the clouds just as the dawn's light filled the imperial courtyard.

"Hey, get back here!" Axel leapt into the streets and chased the mysterious look-alike until he couldn't see him anymore. In a fit of rage, he kicked a nearby stand and incurred the wrath of yet another merchant as his wares scattered into the dirt. But Axel shut him up with a fiery leer and stormed off before the guards arrived. He melded back into the crowd in search of another bench. When the adrenaline subsided, he grew weary and couldn't stop second-guessing himself.

* * *

Jiminy Cricket never pushed himself as hard as he did that night while hopping after his charge. No matter how he shouted for Axel to stop, his pleas went ignored. At first, he faced little difficulty in maintaining a healthy distance from his irresponsive charge, but when the fireworks lit the sky and the townsfolk came out to check on the commotion, more and more bodies came between Jiminy and Axel. Just a tiny cricket in a big world, he not only had to keep up with his target, but jumped left and right to avoid being trampled in the process.

Jiminy's strength left him somewhere in the middle of city just as Axel disappeared around a faraway corner. Beyond tired and heaving deep breaths, Jiminy thought his adventure over and took to a nearby while to recompose himself when an exuberant puppy came up from behind him. With a peppy bark, the puppy wagged its tail and licked Jiminy with it's sopping wet tongue.

"Hey, now!" the cricket exclaimed. "What's the big idea?" Drenched from top to bottom, he flicked his hands with a scowl before taking off his jacket to ring it dry.

The puppy barked and panted, not at all taking a hint from Jiminy's grumpiness. It sniffed around the cricket and took a long whiff, sucking Jiminy's hat into its big, black nose.

"Hey, now! Give that back!"

Scrunching its snout, the puppy growled and pawed at its itchy nose. It inhaled a deep breath of air then sneezed, shooting mucus everywhere. Jiminy's sticky hat landed in the dirt, and the puppy rolled onto it's back barking for a pat.

"Now that's just rude!" Jiminy said, pointing his umbrella at the pup in a scolding manner. But the little doggie just gave him a quizzical look. "Didn't anyone ever teach you some manners? Honestly, inhaling another man's hat!" With a shake of his head, Jiminy snagged his top hat from the pile of mucus. It took some effort for him to tug it loose from the gooey stuff, and when he did, made a sour face as he propped it back on his head.

The pup continued to roll around in the dirt, but when Jiminy started to walk away in a huff, he bounced back to his feet and blocked his newfound chum's path. "Ruff?"

Jiminy sighed. "You don't know the half of it. It's rough being someone's conscience, especially when they don't want to listen."

"Aroo?" The pup tilted its head to the side and lashed its tongue as if to give Jiminy another lick, but licked its chops instead.

"I don't want to burden you with my problems," said Jiminy. "I just need to rest my legs a bit and then I'll be fit as a fiddle. Yessir, I'm going to track him down and give him a lecture he'll never forget! Oh, he'll 'get it memorized', alright!" Jiminy chuckled at his own little joke and the puppy barked along even if he didn't quite understand.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I just need to get past here and—if you'll only just—I need to—will you kindly _move_?" Every attempt Jiminy made to circumvent the hyper puppy, the little doggie would bark and loop around to cut him off again. "Do you mind? I need to find place to sit, and maybe get some water."

"Ruff! Ruff!" said the pup, and Jiminy took it to mean: "Well that's rough because I'm not going to leave you alone."

"You probably have your reasons for wanting to get expert advice from an official conscience, and although I appreciate that you've come to me, there's a reason why we make appointments for these sort of things," Jiminy explained, straightening his bowtie with pride. Again the pup turned its head sideways and stared blankly with its tiny, bean-shaped eyes. "As it so happens, I already have a lost soul in need of guidance. Until his heart is healed, I'm afraid you'll just have to look elsewhere."

Not really interested in anything Jiminy had to say, the little pup occupied itself by licking its nose clean of any outstanding mucus until the cricket finished prattling. When Jiminy tried to make a break for it, the puppy wagged its tail and pranced after him.

"We've been over this," Jiminy huffed. "Unless you're a tour guide, I don't need an escort."

"Ruff!"

"Yes, it _is_ rough, but it doesn't have to be if you'll just leave!"

"Ruff! Ruff!" The puppy licked Jiminy again, this time eating his hat.

"Hey, give that back!"

The puppy swallowed and wagged its tail harder.

"That does it!" His face red, Jiminy clenched his fists at his sides and shouted as loud as he could. "Go on, and get out of here! _Get_!"

The puppy paused for a minute and harked one of its bunny-like ears. He stood stiff as a statue while Jiminy visibly quivered in annoyance and then bounded off to the side of the road howling.

As he watched the little dog chase itself in crazy circles, Jiminy's anger deflated. "What kind of a conscience am I to lose my temper so easily? Perhaps that's why I couldn't keep Axel in check…" With a sigh, he held his head in shame and trudged over the panicked pup. "I'm sorry, little fella. I didn't mean to—"

"He's somewhere here, men!" shouted a soldier on horseback who led a small squad of city guards into the district. "Search the area until you find that troublemaker!"

"Reports say he's a red-haired, fire-breathing demon whose been terrorizing the merchant's guild," stated another soldier. "Don't hesitate to draw your weapons; even if it looks human, it's not!"

"Yessir!" said the guards, and they cantered past Jiminy and the nutty pup in search of their target.

"They must be talking about Axel!" Jiminy fretted. "Oh dear, oh dear… I have to get a move on! But I'm too tired to—wait a minute!" He shot a steely glance at the puppy, which after the horses left, started rolling around in a pile of dirt with a blissful grin stretched across its face.

"Ahem." Jiminy approached the pup and nervously rubbed his foot in the ground. "I wish to apologize," he said with a bashful look. "I shouldn't have been so hasty to turn away a friend."

The little doggie scratched behind its ear with a lazy smile. "Aroo?"

"Let's start over. The name's Jiminy Cricket." He extended his hand for a shake, but instead got drenched with another sloppy kiss. "Haha, how quaint." Jiminy pulled out a handkerchief and dried himself of the slobber. "Listen, fella; my friend is in big trouble from those guardsmen. Do you think I could hitch a ride and we could go find him?"

To make sure the pup understood his message, Jiminy made elaborate hand gestures, and at one point even resorted to utilizing a nearby lantern to make shadow puppets of horses. After watching the entertaining display, the little pup barked up a storm. As if it were possible for him to grow even more excited, he danced circles around the cricket and then launched himself like a rocket after the guardsmen. With fast reflexes, Jiminy extended his umbrella to hook the dog's blue collar and the two sped down the street.

As time passed, the burgeoning crowd made it more difficult for the pup to navigate the streets. He zigzagged between people's feet and slid past carts easy enough when the traffic volume was low, but when the district grew jam-packed with wall-to-wall bodies, he often paused to sniff out an alternate route through a back alley or two. When he finally tracked the scent into the commercial district, a loud rumbling stopped him in his tracks. Indeed, the life flow of the city came to a standstill, with pots and vases quivering with the ground, and beads and other nick-knacks trembling straight off the stands.

"What was that?" Jiminy asked, a question mirrored by a cacophony of screams and whispers alike.

"Did you hear?" said one of pedestrians. "A nearby mountain collapsed!"

"The entire mountain? Is this the work of the Huns?" said his friend.

"It's the end of China! First our emperor and now our sacred mountains!" fretted another pedestrian.

"Oh, ancestors preserve us!" cried still another.

"Repent! Repent! The end is nigh!" shouted a crazy prophet who ran nude through the streets with a squad of guardsmen giving chase. They tackled him, beat him up to make a public example, and clapped him in irons to haul off to the dungeons.

"Return to your business, citizens!" shouted the guard-captain. "There is no need to panic. Everything is alright, and anyone who says otherwise is just as insane as this man here!" He gave the crazed prophet a harsh shove to the back and pushed him into the awaiting arms of his men.

"But what about that fire-breather!" shouted a merchant. "He ruined my stand!"

"It's a demon at work! Perhaps the same one who killed his majesty!"

"The emperor is dead? I thought he was just sick!"

"I heard he was maimed!"

"It's not the emperor who's dead; it's his son!"

"Nonsense! The prince lived, the prince lives, the prince will live!"

"The prince is a monk!"

"The prince is a drunk pretending to be a monk!

"ENOUGH!" shouted the guard-captain from his horse. He raised his sword to frighten the crowd into submission. "Return to your business or else spend the night in the dungeons!"

"Hurry up, boy," said Jiminy as he used the downtime to climb up the dog's white fur and settle himself properly on its back. "We have to find Axel and fast!"

With a peppy bark, the pup scurried off in the opposite direction of the horses until he came upon a second set of horse in the theater district. The guards there were kicking the dirt in rage as they screamed accusations at one-another.

"He gave _you_ the slip!"

"No, he gave _you_ the slip!"

"How could you lose such a tall man with exotic hair?"

They bickered on and on until their superior clonked them each on the head. He ordered them to scour every inch of the city until they found the "red-haired man" and then stormed off on his horse. The others followed, leaving the puppy uncertain of which lead to follow.

Jiminy snapped his fingers. "Drats! Looks like a dead end."

"Ruff!"

"Hold on a second and let me think."

The pup was more than glad to sniff around and chew on some mysterious things he licked off the ground while Jiminy figured out a new plan. It didn't take long for a revelatory thought to strike the cricket, and through the use of a few more creative shadow puppets, directed the dog back to the commercial district.

"That merchant over there said Axel knocked over his stand," Jiminy said while point at a plump man who hunched over his wobbly, wooden stand to meticulously rearrange some gold and jade figurines. "If I could just give this little guy Axel's scent, then we'd be able to find him!" Jiminy hopped off the pup for just a second and landed next to a tiny, white jade dragon—which was life-size to a cricket—that the merchant finished dusting clean. While scouting out the statues, he spotted a single red strand of hair. "Eureka!" he exclaimed as he tugged the strand free from under a tortoise statue.

"Here, boy; sniff this!"

The pup took a long whiff of the hair and wagged its tail.

"Go get 'im!" Jiminy ordered from the large, brown spot of fur on the dog's back, and in a fit of exuberant barks, the two were back on the trail.

It took Jiminy and his puppy pal all night to crisscross the city streets in search of Axel. By the time they finally found the man, the sun was rising just above the palace. All the lanterns had been extinguished, and the crowd grew more restless than ever as the gossip about the emperor, prince, and mountain reached every ear in the capital. Guards marched through the streets locking up anyone who caused a stir while simultaneously keeping their eyes peeled for Axel, who managed to avoid them by hiding out in one of the local smithies. The thick, black smoke pouring from the furnaces did well to mask his presence as he stood by the fire inhaling the fumes in an effort to clear his head.

"Axel! There you are!" Jiminy hacked and wheezed a couple of times as he bounced through the smoke up to his charge.

"Hey, Cricket," Axel replied in a nonchalant voice. Of course the smoke didn't faze him.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Jiminy said through his handkerchief. The white cloth soon turned black from the fumes and did a poor job keeping his airways open. "Come on; let's go outside. We need to talk."

Axel shrugged. "Sure." Together with Jiminy and the puppy, he left the smithy and found a nearby bench clear of the smoke.

"What have you been doing this whole time?" Jiminy said once he could breath easy. He threw his hands up in the air in disgust. "I hear you've been terrorizing the townsfolk and disrupting their place of commerce! The whole city guard's out looking for you!"

"I got angry. It was wrong. I'm sorry."

The answer sounded so glum that it broke Jiminy's heart. "What's on your mind, Axel? The avalanche?"

"I killed those men, Cricket," Axel said with a forlorn look on his face. Deep creases knitted across his forehead as he stared out at the rising sun. "It makes me just as bad as the monsters we're fighting to stop. Might as well call _me_ a Heartless!"

"Don't you see, Axel? The very fact that you can mourn for those men is proof that your heart is growing."

"So what, my success comes at the expense of innocent people?"

"Now I didn't say that. It's true that you'll have to work on keeping your impulses in check. You _can_ do this, Axel. Nothing you say or do now will bring those men back, but you can honor their memory by striving to become a better person." Jiminy glanced over towards the palace gates where dozens of guards oversaw the craftsmen reconstructing the steps and towers. Every so often a squad of soldiers would arrive carrying statues, flowers, and urns through doors to set them in the courtyard out back. "Come on; it looks like they're going to hold a ceremony for those who've died in battle. Let's go pay our respects."

Axel remained quiet for some time as he watched the stonemasons apply their craft. As they layered slab upon slab, Axel couldn't help but liken the rebuilding of the stone steps to the reconstruction of his heart. Something so grand and marvelous was made up of tiny pieces that were visible yet not as outstanding as the finished product. It was then Axel remembered the mysterious look-alike's eerie ability to yank out his heart. Even with fear and doubt gone, joy and hope wouldn't remain as stand-alone emotions. If Axel wanted a heart, he would need to accept all of the hidden costs.

Axel rose from the bench. "Yeah, alright. But I have to do something first." He started for the commerce district with Jiminy on his shoulder and the panting puppy walking along side him.

"Friend of yours?" Axel asked pointing a thumb at the pup.

"Yes, even if his manners need some work," Jiminy replied just as the pup paused to snort. He then hacked up a wad of mucus and spat it into the dirt. "Hey, my hat!"

"Ruff, ruff!"

Jiminy dropped to the ground to reclaim his slobber-ridden to hat. It was wrinkled, stinky, and gooey, and though his handkerchief cleaned most of the mess, Jiminy resolved to visit the dry cleaners during their next visit to Traverse Town.

"So what happened to your armor?" Jiminy asked as they continued walking. "Aren't you cold?"

"We're going to go get it back right now," Axel replied just as they rounded into the commerce district. The second the merchants laid eyes on him, however, they screamed for the guards. It took some persuasion and the jingling of his munny pouch to hush them long enough for him to give his sincere apology.

"So you see, the war made me a bit crazy," Axel concluded. "I mean heck, _you_ try staring down a hundred Huns and lets see how sane you are!"

"I can understand that," said the vase merchant. "Shan Yu did look pretty gruesome."

"My son fought under General Li," said the figurine merchant. "I hope you gave those Huns hell!"

"Warfare is nasty for business," said charms salesman. "Half my clients wound up in the grave! They can't buy much from me when they're with their ancestors."

When the guards inevitably arrived, the merchants hid Axel and threw them off his trail. They accepted his apology and offered to barter with him. He offered most of the munny he had to the nick-knacks salesman in order to compensate for the damages caused by his armor and also to buy the Chinese chess set that took the older many hours to piece back together after the incident. Whatever munny he had left he used to reimburse the other merchants whose vases and trinkets he broke.

In the end, Axel walked away poor but richer for it. As the merchants bade him farewell, he snapped the breastplate back into place and unlatched Goofy's warped shield from the side clasp to once again wear it on his arm. "We can pay our respects now," he said, and the three made way for the palace.

* * *

"Sora! Wake up!"

Sunlight broke into the Keybearer's room through the windows and filled it with warmth, yet still Sora snuggled deep into his covers. He felt at peace for once and fought hard to stay asleep despite Donald's incessant quacking. "Just five more minutes," he muttered as he turned over in his plush pillow and opened his mouth to let out a fresh stream of drool.

But Donald wouldn't have it. He stormed out of the room to return seconds later with a giant gong and banged it several times for good measure. The piercing noise shot Sora's eyelids open and forced him to his feet.

"I'm up, I'm up!" he shouted over the noise while cupping his ears.

"Sora, guess what!" said Goofy as he entered the room. "We've got a big surprise for ya! Come on!"

"The war never happened?" Sora ventured a hopeful guess as he stretched with a yawn.

"Even better!" said Donald as he pushed his sleepy-headed chum out the door.

Still in a sleepy stupor, Sora allowed himself to be guided to the emperor's chamber. It didn't even dawn on him that his friends could be hauling him into the room of a dead man. He felt calmer than last night, and as the memories started to pieces themselves back together he grew more and more ashamed of his outburst.

"Hey guys, can we talk for a sec?" he said, but Donald just gave him a kick in the rear and sent him tumbling into the chamber where the emperor awaited.

"Good morning, Keybearer," he said with a cheerful, little smile as he sipped a cup of piping hot tea. "Care to join me? This brew was freshly picked from the garden just now."

Confused, Sora stood with mouth agape as his friends guided him to sit on a pillow across from the emperor. "Your Majesty…you're alive!"

"Indeed I am. I owe much thanks to your friends." He signaled his servants to pour tea for four and the cups were placed in front of four cushions.

Mulan arrived shortly afterwards and bowed at the door. "I'm so relieved to see you well, your majesty!"

The emperor nodded his head in turn. "Come, sit! Have tea with us."

Together, the four friends enjoyed a humble breakfast with the emperor. His servants brought various sweets and delicacies, of which Sora tried at least two of each. Though not many words were exchanged during the meal—Mulan too in awe to speak, and Sora and his friends too scarfing down the delicious, exotic goods to get a word in edge-wise—the emperor enjoyed the company.

"That was delicious!" Sora said with a hearty pat to his bloated gut.

"You said it," Donald replied while chewing on a toothpick.

Goofy bowed on behalf of his friends. "Thanks for the meal, your Majesty."

"Oh, yes! Thank you very much!" Mulan added, offering an even deeper bow.

"Please," the emperor said holding up his hand, "this was the least I could do. You have done the impossible, and for that I owe you my eternal gratitude. That you were able to find hope in even the most dire of circumstances does well to bring honor to your families." He clapped his hands to signal the servants and then rose from his cushion. "Come, there is a ceremony to attend. We will speak more after."

Sora and Donald quickly licked the last microscopic crumbs from their plates before relinquishing them to the servants and then followed the others into the courtyard where hundreds of people—soldiers and civilians alike—had gathered for ceremony to mark the end of the war.

Captain Li and his men saluted Sora and Mulan as they joined them in standing before the emperor. The courtyard was gussied up with flowers of every color wrapped into various wreathes and bouquets. Exquisite vases decorated each corner of the platform where the emperor rose to address his people, with incense burning from golden pots placed near his feet. Various statues of animals from the Chinese zodiac stood watching over the jars containing the ashes of the fallen that lost their lives to the Huns.

A low reverberation filled the courtyard from the whispers and mutterings of the populace until the emperor signaled for silence. "My children," he said, his voice reaching every ear, "Heaven smiles down on the Middle Kingdom! Our history is one written in the blood of our ancestors, who fought long and hard to protect us from the barbarians prowling outside the Great Wall. Today, we stand here to honor those who have given their lives to write a new page in our history—one that marks this victorious triumph over the Hun menace. I stand here before you today alive and well not only thanks to the brave heroes whose hearts rise to join their ancestors, but also because of the heroes who stand with us here today."

The courtyard filled with heart-felt cheers as the emperor turned and nodded to Captain Li. Shang stepped forward and presented the blade of Shan Yu with a bow.

"Your father would be very proud of you, Captain Li," said the emperor as he took the blade and held it high for all to see.

"Thank you, sir," said the captain and he stepped back into place.

With sword in hand, the emperor turned to Mulan and presented the trophy. "Take this, Fa Mulan, so everyone will know what you have done for China."

"Wh-what? Me?" Flabbergasted, Mulan seldom knew what to do as the sword slipped into her hands.

"And this," the emperor continued, yanking from under his robes a solid, gold medallion bearing the crest of the dynasty, "so that your family will know what you have done for me." He placed the medallion over her bowed head and gently brought it to rest against her chest. Again the emperor bowed to Mulan and all who stood in the courtyard mimicked the gesture.

When the emperor continued with his speech, Mulan couldn't stop staring at her gifts. It didn't seem real to her. She could feel Mushu blowing his nose and crying tears of pride from inside her shirt as she shuffled closer to Sora, not wanting to stand out anymore than she had.

"Thanks, Mulan," the Keybearer whispered.

"For what?"

"For keeping it all together. I lost my cool back there." Sora lowered his head in shame. "The emperor wouldn't be here if it had been up to me."

"Remember, Sora: even when you're faced with an impossible task, don't give up. Where there's a will, there's a way."

Sora nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good." Mulan looked out at the hundreds of spectators. Some of them wept into handkerchiefs while others kneeled in prayer. Several lines snaked around the memorials where men and women paid their respects to the soldiers' ashes and tombstones. When the ceremony was over, the families of the dead would take the tombstones home to place in the ancestral shrine. Mulan thought about her family's shrine and silently thanked her ancestors for sending such great friends to help her succeed. Her gaze glossed through the crowds until it came to rest on Shang, whose eyes met hers. The two blushed and quickly looked away from each other.

The ceremony ended at noon after the surviving soldiers performed a march around the courtyard and the band played several songs to ease the spirits of the dead. Gradually, the courtyard cleared out and the families collected what paraphernalia of their kin was recovered from the war zone. As the crowd dwindled, a familiar patch of red hair caught Sora's eyes and he flashed his sights on Axel, who kneeled in front of a cluster of tombstones.

After some time praying, he turned to the woman next to him and they exchanged several words. She hugged him, weeping into his shoulder as he comforted her. When she left in tears and Axel lifted his head to glance up at Sora. He offered a small wave and then ducked back into the crowd shuffling out the gates.

"Axel…"

When all left the courtyard, Sora and his friends accompanied the emperor to the front doors of the palace where Mulan prepared to return home. "Could I perhaps interest you in taking a position on my council?" said the emperor as Mulan strapped Shan Yu's sword to Khan. "You could take Xiao Gen's place."

"With all due respect, your Majesty, I've been away from home long enough," Mulan replied.

When the emperor made to respond, she surprised him with a heartfelt hug. He smiled.

"Is she allowed to do that?" Yao muttered to the guys. Everyone just shrugged.

Mulan then turned to her friends, and without saying a word, everyone jumped into her arms to give her one, big group hug. Everyone took their turn to say goodbye, though when it came to Shang, he just stood awkwardly. His face contorted while he thought of what to say, and he opened his mouth several times to say "You…" but could never quite construct a complete sentence. Mulan awaited patiently with an expectant smile as the captain who stared down the face of evil and survived being digested by a grotesque, gelatinous monster found it near impossible to spit out two words.

"You…you fight good," he blurted out in the end, averting his gaze.

Mulan's smile crumbled as she thanked him and walked away. Just as she prepared to mount Khan, a peppy fit of barks filled the air as Jiminy's little puppy pal bounded up the steps with Axel not too far behind.

"Little Brother!" Mulan kneeled down and opened her arms for a big, slobber kiss from the ever-energetic puppy. "How did you get all the way out here? Did you come to check up on me?"

"Ruff! Ruff!"

"If you're here, who's feeding the chickens?"

"Arooo~!"

"So he's your mutt, huh?" said Axel with an amused grin as he reached the summit. "He's a lively one."

"He sure is," Mulan said as she lifted Little Brother onto the saddle. "Take care, Axel."

"I'll try."

"Bye guys!" Mushu popped his head out real quick and winked before any of the soldiers were the wiser.

Mulan mounted her horse, taking the reins with one hand while holding her puppy in place with the other. "Farewell, everyone!" she said, and just like that, Mulan galloped down the steps and out of the city. Cheering followed her all the way past the gates.

Shang continued to look on long after Mulan vanished from sight, his thoughts interrupted only by the emperor.

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all," he said as he approached the captain from behind.

"Sir?"

"You don't meet a girl like _that_ every dynasty."

Without another word, Shang left for the stables to procure a horse, and within minutes everyone watched him gallop after Mulan.

"He's a regular Prince Charming," Axel jibed as he approached Sora. "How're you doing, kid?"

Sora opened his mouth to answer, but Donald beat him to the punch. "Much better without _you_, you stupid, dumb warlock! Now scram!"

Axel ignored him. "Sorry I left like that. Needed to do some thinking."

"I understand," said Sora. "We all need to have a good chat."

"Sounds good."

"Before you do that, I invite you four into my chambers," the emperor interrupted. "There is something we must discuss. Come."

Sora and his friends said goodbye to Yao and the others before retreating once more into the emperor's chambers. When the servants left, the emperor locked the door behind them and signaled everyone for silence as he ushered them to the very back of the room where he pushed aside a pile of cushions to get at the floorboards. After lifting the boards, the emperor reached down into a cold, dark hole and pulled out a box. It was old and crafted out of a strange, unpolished metal. Anyone who looked at it was drawn first to the excessively large keyhole that sat just beneath a small, golden crown.

"Gawrsh, that looks like your necklace, Sora!" said Goofy as the emperor set the box down on one of the cushions.

Sora leaned in to have a closer look, idly fingering the silver, crown-shaped pendant dangling over his heart. "You're right."

"How much do you know of my world's history?" the emperor asked upon replacing the floorboards.

"Not much," said Donald. The others concurred.

"Centuries ago, my ancestors erected a Great Wall under the pretense of protecting China from barbarian warmongers—scattered clans of outcasts that were tainted by the Darkness and expelled from the kingdom."

"You mean like the Huns?" Sora asked.

The emperor nodded. "The Huns are but one of many of these warring clans."

Axel furrowed his brows. "Wait, you said outcasts? You mean those clansmen were once part of your kingdom?"

"You heard Shan Yu threaten me for a 'truth', did you not?" said the emperor with a stroke of his long, white beard. "He was referring to the war that exiled his ancestors from the Middle Kingdom. Many centuries ago, there was a great war that wreaked havoc on the One True World. Darkness poured into the hearts of many men, forever poisoning them with avarice, hatred, and bloodlust. Brother turned against brother; neighbor against neighbor; father against son. When the war reached China, many of our kinsmen fell while expelling the corrupted forces from our borders."

"You didn't just kill them all?"

The emperor clenched his fist, his voice rising. "We did not fight to become monsters ourselves! The army of those days forced the tainted outside the Wall, leaving alive as many as possible in the hope that one day their hearts would be purified."

"It doesn't look like that plan worked out very well," said Sora.

"Time did not cleanse the taint. It grew more concentrated as it past from generation to generation turning them into the ferocious beasts you've encountered."

"We crushed that whole army, though," said Axel. "A few centuries of warfare like that and there's no way any of them would still be kicking around today."

"The Great Wall has kept the clans at bay since its erection."

Goofy snapped his fingers at a revelation. "That's right, ahyuck! Remember what Gen said about the wall? Nothing could crack through it!"

"Oh yeah!" said Donald. "I still don't get that."

The emperor nodded. "The origin of the Great Wall is not found on any scroll in the Archives. Its myth is something passed down from emperor to emperor within my dynasty."

"Why's that?"

"First, a question: are you aware that the universe was not always composed of so many worlds?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other. "No," they said in unison.

"Long ago, all was one and one was all. The One True World housed all the worlds in the cosmos. There were two thousand nations that all pledged their loyalty to the King-Sovereign who held ultimate authority and ruled from the City of Light—the capital of the world. When the Darkness leeched into this realm, it plunged the One True World into chaos. The subsequent war tore the planet into pieces, scattering it all across the sea of space and forming the worlds that you see today."

"Gawrsh, if that's true, how come we didn't know about it?" said Goofy.

Donald nodded. "Yeah! You'd think something as devastating as that would be in a history book here and there."

"This ancient war happened such a long time ago that most people have forgotten," the emperor explained. "What was once history turned to legend, and what was once legend was buried by the ashes of time. Records were destroyed in warfare, and as an unfathomable amount of people lost their lives, their memories too were lost to future generations. Only one song survived the test of time, and that is Ballad of the Keybearer."

"But where does the Keyblade fit into all of this?" Sora asked.

"It is because of the Keybearer that life in the Realm of Light still flourishes. When the Darkness invaded, the Keybearer alone fought from one world to the next until he traversed all the worlds and secured their safety."

"But there are thousands, if not millions of worlds!" Donald quacked. "How could one guy do _all_ that?"

"Over the span of millennia, the Keyblade has chosen many masters."

"I sure hope the King doesn't want us to follow in all their footsteps…"

"So where does that Wall come in?" Axel asked.

"Ah yes, forgive me," said the emperor. "My ancestor served in the King-Sovereign's court. According to legend, on the day the Darkness breached the realm, the King-Sovereign entrusted my ancestor with two gifts: the first was this box; the second was the City of Light's very castle!"

"The _castle_?" Sora gaped. "Then you mean…?"

The emperor nodded. "Yes. As legend would have it, the Great Wall was constructed from the very bricks that once formed the old castle."

Axel scoffed. "Now you're just pulling our legs!"

"The castle was imbued with special magicks that shielded it from every attack. Not once during the war did its wards founder."

"If that's true, how'd the city even fall?"

"The King-Sovereign was killed."

"But his castle survived?"

"Yes."

"So a long time ago, some old king gets the great idea to give your ancestor his indestructible castle in order to protect China while he goes and gets himself killed?" Axel couldn't help but laugh. "Pardon my bluntness, but that's absurd."

"It is also incorrect," the emperor replied with a stroke of his beard. "The Great Wall was not erected to protect the emperor, the imperial court, or this world. It exists to protect this…" He pushed forth the old box and tapped it.

"That's even more farfetched."

Sora gazed upon the unpolished box. It gave the illusion of reflection, though no matter how the light hit it, the metal shone nothing aside from a clouded darkness. "What's in it?" he asked.

"I do not know. No one has ever had the means to open it."

"With a keyhole that big, it looks like a job for the Keyblade," Axel remarked.

Not waiting for permission, Sora summoned the legendary blade. Like a magnet, it locked onto the keyhole from the moment it materialized and a beam of lot shot out from its tip to the hole. The room filled with the echo of the latch unlocking and all eyes fell on Sora as he pressed a hand over the golden crown and pushed open the lid.

Resting against a layer of cushioned padding were two obsidian articles. Sora first pulled out a pyramid-shaped stand and set it on the ground in front of Donald, who silently appraised its value. Next he grabbed a large, solid sphere that weighed far more than the pyramid and was about the size of a grapefruit.

Axel shook his head and did little to conceal his amusement. "Your ancestor built an impenetrable wall just for a couple pieces of obsidian?"

"Maybe it's some kind of currency," Donald ventured to guess. "We could be sitting a fortune larger than my Uncle Scrooge's!"

"Or maybe it's some kind of sport?" said Goofy. "Used to be a bit of a sportsman m'self back in the day, ahyuck! Could be archaic T-ball!"

"But it's like Axel said: why would any of those things be protected by the Great Wall?" said Sora. He studied the mysterious items with great intrigue, weighing them both in his hands before replacing them in the box.

"That is a mystery for which I have no answer," replied the emperor in dismay. "I have told you everything that has been told to me by my father, and to him by his."

"Then I guess it's up to us to figure it out, huh?" Sora locked the box with a tap of the Keyblade before willing away the weapon. "Thank you for sharing this with us, your Majesty."

"A great responsibility rests on your shoulders, Sora," said the emperor as he rose to his feet. "In order to succeed, you will need to arm yourself with wisdom and courage, and prepare both mind and body for what lies ahead."

"I'll do my best." Sora and his friends followed the emperor to the door where he stopped them just short of unlocking it.

"There is one thing I must ask of you," he said.

"Anything."

"Before you continue your journey, please visit the Great Wall and undo the damages wrought by Shan Yu. I know not what sorts of magicks he used to clear himself a path, but I have faith that the Keyblade can restore it to its former glory. Even without the box, my people depend the Wall for their safety and I fear that the other clans will soon mobilize to take advantage of our lowered defenses."

"Leave it to me!" Sora said with a confident smile. "I'll take care of everything."

"Thank you." The emperor bowed to the four friends. "May your ancestors guide your feet."

Sora and his friends left the palace and wandered into the busy city. The overall aura of doom lifted from the populace after the ceremony showed them their ruler alive and well. They mourned for their dead, and though many stayed home to grieve, the streets bustled as much as ever. With the decline of the doomsayers, the guards relaxed their patrols and most soldiers hung out at a teahouse or street corner chatting with their comrades while keeping an occasional eye on the crowds.

"So how are we going to get to the Wall?" Sora asked.

"We could ride in a cart," Donald replied pointing to a passing farmer driving a cart full of hay.

Axel scoffed at the idea. "That'd take days!"

"Well we're not going to walk!" the duck huffed.

"We could take the ship!" Goofy suggested.

"Didn't Cid say it'd fry our engines if we got too close to this world? I'm not paying to have him build us a new one if it breaks, Goofy!"

"You know what I think? That there magical Wall's the reason electrical equipment doesn't work on this world."

"And because it's broken…" Donald tapped his foot in thought for a moment. "Okay! Let's try it. We can fly 'til we see the Wall then beam down from orbit."

"Sounds like a plan!" said Sora.

With the consensus reached, Goofy pulled out the ship's remote teleporter and readied to beam everyone aboard, but Axel stopped him.

"I want to make a quick stop to a small farm first," he said.

"Absolutely not!" quacked the duck. "Who said you were even coming with us?"

"Are you really going to start this again?" said Sora. "Axel's our friend!"

Donald crossed his arms and gave Axel the evil eye. "Some _friend_! He left you to get squashed by Shan Yu!"

"There is no excuse for what I've done," Axel replied plainly. "It was a moment of weakness. I'm sorry I abandoned you. It won't happen again."

"Lies!" cried the magician.

"I've given up trying to convince you, duck."

"Uh-uh, no way! You had your chance and you blew it!" Donald snatched the remote from Goofy's hands and aimed it at Sora only to be tackled by the Keybearer.

Sora and Donald rolled around in the dirt struggling for the remote while their friends looked on in shame. The little gadget did Olympics-worthy flips in the air as it slipped from one hand to the other and toppled to the ground numerous times. Some horses that trotted by almost trampled the thing to bits until Sora took a dive and procured it once and for all.

"Gimme that!" Donald quacked.

"We're taking Axel," Sora said, ultimately ending the discussion.

Donald crossed his arms and looked away in disgust. "Aw phooey!"

"Okay, let's go, guys." Sora went to press the button, but Axel stopped him, too.

"I also want to take a horse with us," he said, and Donald exploded into a fit of unintelligible quacks.

"Absolutely _not_!" shouted the magician, whose white-feathered face turned red as a tomato.

"Gawrsh, how come?" Goofy asked of Axel.

"I want to return him home," came the reply.

"I think that's a noble idea," said Jiminy, and everyone but Donald agreed.

"No, no, _no_! A thousand times no!" Donald shouted. "A horse can't fit in the ship!"

Three minutes later, Sora and his friends crammed themselves into the ship with a full-grown horse. Sora sat in Goofy's lap so that Axel could take his seat and the horse could stretch out from the baggage compartment in the rear. Donald muttered angrily under his breath as he steered the ship through the atmosphere and zoomed across the luscious, green landscape in search of the Wall. Outside of the Imperial City, farms spanned across the land as far as the eye could see, cradled between jungles and mountains.

"So who was that woman you were talking to?" Sora asked.

"In front of the tombstones?" said Axel, and Sora nodded. "Some soldier's widow. Guy's name was Xiao Gen—if memory serves, he was the guy Cid told us to meet."

Sora's forehead wrinkled with sadness. "That was Gen's wife?"

"So you knew him, huh?"

"He was a brave man who sacrificed himself to throw Shan Yu off the mountain."

"And he also tried to protect Mulan," Goofy added.

"Oh yeah," Sora hummed while tapping his chin in thought. "But you know, something about that always bothered me."

"What'dya mean?"

"Well, how did Gen know about Mulan? She kept her secret tightly under wraps. It just seemed so…sudden."

"Maybe he accidentally walked in on her while she was changin' for the night."

"Maybe… I'm just glad he wouldn't let her get executed."

"What did ya tell his wife, Axel?" Goofy asked.

Axel shrugged. "I had to make up something on the fly, so I said he was brave soldier who died to bring honor to his family."

"That should bring her at least some comfort."

"Yeah."

"Would you all quit yapping?" Donald quacked as he smacked the horse away from his hat. It had been nibbling on the zipper and slowly moving to eat the whole thing. "Stupid horse! Bah!"

Eventually, Axel ordered the ship to land in front of gated house. Donald was all too eager to give the smelly horse the boot and stayed in the ship placing air fresheners in strategic locations while everyone else went to greet the farmers. The old woman gave Axel a hug and called her husband and brother from the stables. They met Axel with a pat to the back, cheering his victory over the Huns.

"Here, I brought you a gift," said Axel as he untied a parcel from the horse and gave it to the woman's husband.

Taken aback by the gesture, the husband offered a small thanks before opening the box. Inside was the Chinese checkers set Axel purchased in the city. "Play a game?" said the man with a competitive smirk.

"Not tired of losing to me?" Axel quipped.

"I've been practicing!"

Axel looked for approval from his two friends before accepting the offer.

The old woman showed everyone inside, treating them to tea and sweets while her husband and brother engaged Axel, Sora, and Goofy in a checkers match. They enjoyed themselves for a while until Axel swept the board clean of their pieces. When the time came to continue their journey, Sora and Goofy bade the family farewell while Axel held back.

"I should return this to you," he said unclasping the armor. The family led him into their lost child's room where they held a small prayer for his spirit and Axel replaced the armor on its pedestal.

"Thank you for avenging my son," said the old woman as she presented Axel with some travel clothes.

"It was an honor," said Axel. He got dressed, and after saying his goodbyes, left for the ship.

* * *

Sora and his friends left the small farm and continued their search for the Great Wall. It didn't take long for them to find the long, stone barricade that ran through the mountains and valleys, but the precise location where the Hun's broke through eluded them. As they traced along the unscalable wall, the differences between the two sides grew more defined past the frigid peaks. The Imperial side saw rich, green vegetation and peaceful animals grazing about in the fruitful bushes and trees.

As Sora looked out past the Wall, it seemed as though he were staring into an altogether different world. Wild weeds sprouted in patches across barren land. Old trees stood with their gnarled roots breaking through the dry dirt and little to no foliage. Though no living creatures came into view, the wind unearthed dozens of their skeletons from under the dust.

"Gives 'the grass is greener on the other side' a whole knew meaning," Axel remarked as the ship came to a stop. A group of soldiers guarded the terrible wound struck to their wall. Piles of rubble lay at their feet, spanning out a good few yards where the Huns concentrated their assault. Sora and his friends exited the ship while Donald flew it into a safe orbit before beaming himself to the ground.

The soldiers greeted the new arrivals and Sora introduced his friends. "So the emperor sent you," said the commanding officer. "But why you and not a team of stonemasons."

"Because they don't have _this_." Sora held out his hand and called forth the Keyblade, earning a round of awed whispers from the men.

"How mystical…" The CO leaned in close to marvel at the blade. "This will fix the Wall?"

Sora nodded.

"Very well." The CO signaled his men, and the soldiers parted to allow Sora easy access to the damage.

While Sora went around the debris tapping his Keyblade in hope that it would activate itself, Axel scouted around the opposite side. He stepped onto cold, hard ground and looked around. Dozens of old, rusty swords were scattered along the Wall where clansmen tried for centuries to hack their way through. Some arrows complimented the mess of metal, along with several archaic shovels.

"Makes you wonder why they never thought to scale the thing," Axel muttered as he kicked some old bones.

"Maybe the magic created some kind of barrier," Jiminy suggested.

"A wall that conjures a magical wall atop itself?" Axel laughed at the idea and continued to walk through bones and rusted tools until he passed the wounded area. Not a single chip or scratch against the stone despite all the swords and picks that would suggest otherwise. "What's this thing _really_ made of?" Axel wondered as he pressed his hand against the wall to judge whether it felt like rock or expertly disguised metal.

The second his fingers grazed the deceitfully smooth surface an almost magnetic force suctioned hold of his palm. Before Axel could register the act, his mind grew fuzzy and he lost the feeling in his limbs. A strange, electrical current hummed through his bones. Dilated, his eyes rolled back into his head, plunging him in darkness. Voices he didn't know but felt adamant that he should whispered to him, though he didn't understand much of what they said. They spoke in a strange language that he recognized but couldn't interpret.

Chaos pooled into his mind, painting the darkness with fire and death. The voices continued their cacophony of shouts, imbued with anxiety, pain, and fear. Slowly, Axel could make out intelligible bits, and soon, the language barrier dissolved altogether.

"_We can't hold them back any longer! They're coming from inside the throne room!"_

"_But the prince is still in there!"_

"_Find the general; bring him here! Hurry!"_

"_The prince must be saved! Hold the line!"_

"_Where is my brother?"_

"_My lord, don't—there are too many of them!"_

"_Azrael has betrayed the crown! Hunt down the duke and spare him no quarter!"_

"_Hold the line!"_

A sudden jolt spiked through Axel's spine, jerking him free from the Wall in a fit of spasms. He stumbled backwards into the dry dirt, his head landing just centimeters from a rusted axe. The numbness fogging his thoughts lingered until his eyes readjusted.

"Are you alright?" Jiminy fretted as he climbed the bridge of Axel's nose and checked his temperature.

Axel sat up without a word, still trying to process the whole experience of phantoms screaming into his ears. All of his appendages tingled, and he looked at his hands expecting to see lighting shooting from his fingertips. About to summon some fire to scorch his body clean of its charge, he stopped short of snapping his fingers when he caught sight of something peculiar shining in the afternoon sun.

While Jiminy climbed back down his nose, Axel got to his feet and neared the Wall. Without touching the stone, he knelt down and narrowed his eyes in search of the reflecting light. He tilted his head at various angles until the sun hit the object just right and it again glistened. It was fine like spider webbing, but tough as steel as Axel pinched it and gave it a tug. The end of the mysterious line lead back to the rubble, and so Axel followed it to its source.

At first, the line traced the outer Wall, but several yards down it broke away towards a hill. Just below the hill, someone had dug a deep trench and plated the cracked, lifeless dirt with metal sheets. Three, large cylindrical canisters connected to a generator rested atop the plates with the nigh invisible wire feeding into a transformer that broke off into three, fat cables. Each cable in turn fed into the canisters.

Jiminy let out an astounded whistle. "What is that?"

"It's how the Huns broke through the Wall," Axel replied. He inspected the strange mechanism—taking apart the defunct generator, tugging the wire free of the transformer, and tapping against the canisters. In the end, he went back to fetch the others. In all that time, Sora still hadn't managed to make a single repair. For whatever reason, the Keyblade wouldn't resonate with the Wall.

"How did the Huns get their hands on something like this?" Sora wondered aloud.

"Looks like the Resistance weren't the first outsiders to visit this place," said Axel, earning a glare from Donald.

"How did you say you found this again?" said the magician, doing little to mask his suspicion.

Goofy rubbed his chin for a moment. "Y'know," he said, letting the word hang in the air until he collected his thoughts, "we should send this to Cid. He'll be able to figure it out."

"Can we do that?" Sora asked.

"We've got a telepad on the ship. It's not big enough to fit everything in one piece, but if we break it down…"

"Yeah, let's do that," Donald agreed. "Goofy and I'll take care of that. Sora, you get cracking on that wall!"

"Right!" With newfound determination, the Keybearer returned to the task at hand.

Not waiting for the duck to quack at him, Axel followed Sora. "What's the hold up, anyway?"

"I don't know," Sora said with a glance at the Keyblade. "It just isn't working."

Axel hummed, and then after a brief pause, added, "Have you touched the Wall?"

"No. Should I?"

"Try it."

"If you think it'll help…" When they returned to the damaged area, Sora took his free hand and touched the wall.

His body still tingling, Axel watched with keen interest as a white aura enveloped the Keyblade master's body. The Keyblade jerked forward, pulling Sora's arm out towards the wounded area. A beam of light shot from its tip, blinding everyone. Axel, Jiminy, and the nearby soldiers shielded their eyes from the light as their ears picked up on the grinding and knocking of the debris pulling up from the ground. When their sights returned, the Great Wall greeted them in all its unblemished glory.

"Wow, it worked!" Sora mused with a merry smile. He gave the Keyblade a quick victory twirl while the soldiers applauded.

"That was incredible!" the CO exclaimed. He and his men huddled around the Keybearer, showering him with praise and pressing him with an infinite array of questions.

"Thanks, Axel," Sora said after breaking away from the soldiers.

"Yeah, no problem," Axel replied with a fragile smile. "So, how'd that rock feel?"

"Strangely smooth."

"Did you notice anything weird?"

"You mean that bright aura?"

"Anything else?"

Sora stopped to think for a moment. "Well, now that you mention it…I feel lighter."

"Lighter?"

"Yeah. I'm probably just hungry," Sora said with a sheepish smile. "All I've eaten today is a boatload of pastries and using the Keyblade really takes it out of me."

"You've got quite the sweet tooth there, kid," Axel said, allowing the topic to derail itself. Sora wouldn't lie to him; if he heard the voices, he would've mentioned it. "Just hope you remember to brush and floss later."

Sora chuckled. "If we can get back to the ship…" He looked up at the Wall and realized that Donald and Goofy were still on the other side. "How do we get back to the others?" Not more than a second after posing the question, a tractor beam shot down from the sky and pulled Sora and Axel towards the orbiting ship.

"See, Donald? Ahyuck! I told you that there jagd stone'd work in there," Goofy said as he opened the hatch for his friends.

Donald just growled. "I still say we should've left the warlock in China…"

Once Sora and Axel boarded, Donald ignited the thrusters and steered the ship far away from the world not wanting to test the Wall's reach. Everyone buckled in, with Axel sneezing at the pile flowery air fresheners left near his makeshift seat. "Don't you think this is overkill, duck?" he half sneezed.

"Quiet! It was _your_ horse that stunk up the place, so take it like a man!" snapped the angry pilot.

"Hey, guys…?" Sora leaned in between Donald and Goofy. "Listen, about last night—I'm really sorry about my outbursts."

Donald and Goofy glanced at each other, silently relieved.

"Aww, it's okay, Sora," said Donald, his face softening. "You were just overtired."

Goofy nodded. "Yeah, ahyuck! You went a long time without some decent shut-eye. That'd make just about anyone cranky."

"Honestly, I'm not sure what came over me," the Keybearer admitted. "I felt just fine today. When I woke up, I didn't have anymore of those doubts in my head. I just hope I didn't hurt your feelings."

"Aw, never happen!" Donald said with a wave of his hand.

"All for one and one for all, remember?" Goofy added.

Sora smiled. "Yeah."

The _G.S._ _Kingdom_ whizzed through the sea of space, its passengers superficially content for the time being. But their curiosity bubble beneath the surface. The time they spent in China gave light to many new revelations, but provided more questions than answers. As the Keybearer and his friends plotted a new course, they wondered just how many mysteries their journey would uncover.

* * *

Deep within one of China's many jungles, Mulan made her steady way back home to present her father with the emperor's gifts and bring honor to the Fa family. The sun hung low in the sky, only just visible through the thick foliage. A group of lazy pandas grazed nearby, watching Khan canter past them as they chewed on some stalks of bamboo.

Now out in the open, Mushu stood on Mulan's shoulder listing all the things they would need to throw a proper celebratory party upon their return. "…and some bean dip, and definitely some of those party hats with the ribbons streaming out—they look like rainbows you can wear on your head!"

"Ruff! Ruff!" barked Little Brother and he licked Mushu.

The guardian dragon's smile melted as he wiped the slobber from his face. "Yeah, and we'll need lots of towels for your rabbit. He tends to leak."

As they continued through the jungle, Mulan noticed a change in the air. The birds and crickets stopped chirping, and everything grew still. Even the wind ceased its rustling through the leaves. Mulan craned her head back to check on the pandas and found that they had absconded into the bushes. It was then that Khan neighed to a halt.

"What's the matter, Khan?" Mulan said as she pet her horse, but even her gentle touch couldn't soothe him.

Little Brother sniffed the air and started to growl.

"You know things are bad when the rabbit's acting rabid," said Mushu, and just as he spoke, the crack of a single twig echoed in the distance. Someone was coming, and he took big, heavy footsteps.

Mulan fingered her sword. "Who's there?"

The bushes rustled with the clanking of metal and out came a tall, armored man. An engraved helmet shielded his head, and as he looked at Mulan, it was though a ferocious dragon opened its curled-fanged mouth to gobble her up in a single bite. As he approached the horse, Little Brother's bark grew more threatening and Khan took a step backwards.

"It can't be…" Mulan's eyes widened, the sight paralyzing her. "_Gen_?"

"Hello, Fa Mulan," said the dead man, his voice chilling and dark.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing. I'm perfectly fine." He stopped just half a meter from the horse.

"But you fell of a cliff! You can't be fine."

"Girl, I do _not_ like this!" Mushu grabbed Mulan's frozen hand and prepped her fingers around the sword's hilt. "Don't just sit there! The guy's either a zombie or he's great at parlor tricks—either way he's made a pact with the devil!"

Wordlessly, Mulan tightened her grip, ready to draw her sword when the dead man dashed forward and grabbed her hand. With an iron-tight fist, he forced her off the saddle and smacked away her dog as he pounced to defend his master. Mulan fell to the ground, but collected herself in time to sneak a hard kick to dead man's head. The second her foot connected, the helmet toppled off where it rolled onto the ground leaving no head in place.

"You're not Gen!"

The headless warrior let out a deep, foreboding laugh and tugged Mulan away from her friends. But she wouldn't leave without a fight. Sending a kick to the headless man's abdomen, she stunned him long enough to grab her sword and pry her hand free from his arm. She remounted Khan and galloped away, collecting Little Brother in the process. The headless warrior laughed again in amusement. A pair of blood-red eyes watched him from the shadows, and out leaped his black horse.

"What the _heck_ is going on? Was he some sort of Heartless?" Mushu fretted.

"I don't intend to find out!" Mulan spurred her horse through the jungle, zigzagging in random patterns to throw her purser off the trail. But just when she thought it was safe, a flaming pumpkin whizzed past her head and exploded upon impacting the ground. She craned her head around to see the Headless Horseman stampeding behind her with another scary-faced jack-o-lantern resting on his elevated palm.

"There is no escape, Fa Mulan!" he shouted in his eerie voice as he chucked another exploding pumpkin. The blast terrified Khan, who jumped onto his hind-legs and tossed Mulan clean off her saddle.

"Mulan!" Mushu tried to help her, but the Headless Horseman scooped her from the ground and knocked her unconscious. "Now's not the time to be spooked, Bessie! We've gotta help Mulan!" The guardian dragon took the reins to no avail. Still reeling from the shock, Khan ran wildly in the opposite direction. It was then that Mushu bailed ship and hopped on Little Brother instead. The little pup ran as fast as he could through the jungle path, but it was too late. Mulan and the Headless Horseman had vanished into thin air.

Khan continued to speed through the forest, almost tripping on various roots and stumps. When the adrenaline wore off and he started to slow, he realized that a second horse followed fast behind him. Fearing for his life, he picked up the pace only for a hand to reach out and yank his reins, forcing him to stop. Khan let out a loud neigh as he tried to free himself.

"Easy, easy!" Holding the reins firm, Shang maneuvered his way to the front of the spooked horse. "What's happened to you? Where's Mulan?"

Khan calmed down at the sight of a familiar face. Though he couldn't speak, he grunted and nodded his head towards the direction where the Headless Horseman attacked them.

"Take me to Mulan," said Shang and he mounted Khan. After traveling for some time, they came across Mulan's abandoned sword. As Shang took it in his hands, something rustled from the bushes. "Mulan?"

Little Brother jumped out with Mushu throwing a tirade on his back. "Aren't rabbits supposed to be speed demons or something? How could you let him kidnap Mulan?"

"Mulan was kidnapped?"

"Yeah, that's right! All because of…the rabbit…" Mushu trailed off, his mouth agape. "Uh, you didn't see me, okay?" He gave Little Brother a kick to get going. "Ride like the wind, rabbit!" But Little Brother just plopped down on his rear and whined.

Shang kneeled down and inspected Mushu. "Are you some sort of lizard spirit?"

"Wha—lizard? I'm a dragon!"

"Please, do you know what happened to Mulan?"

Mushu hung his head in shame. "Some headless guy took her."

"Where?"

"I don't know! One second he was there and then _poof_! Gone!"

Standing tall, Shang remounted Khan. "I have to find her!"

"Weren't you listening?" said Mushu as he and the pup crawled up into the saddle with the captain. "She's not here anymore!"

"Well they couldn't have gotten far. There's a village on the other side where he could be lying low."

"Which part of _headless_ don't you get? The guy's not just a freak—he's the king of freaks! This is other-worldly stuff, man."

"Other world?" Shang thought for a moment. "Of course—the Keybearer! Sora will know what to do!"

"Now you're talkin'!"

The captain spurred Khan forward, but nothing he could do would save Mulan. With the Keyblade master already in space, it would be a long time before anyone outside China would learn of Mulan's disappearance.

* * *

A/N:

Characters you may not know:

Little Brother – _Mulan_

The Headless Horseman – _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_

I recommend everyone reread this arc from start to finish. I guarantee you've either forgotten or overlooked a lot of important details. Arc starts on Ch. 19.


End file.
